@2024 Afarand., IRAN

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ISSN: 2008-2630    Iranian Journal of War & Public Health 2014;6(5):189-194

Background
Through communication with the teammates and understanding mutual emotions during competitions, mental and emotional preparedness can play an important role in timely decision-making, proper performance, and motivating the athletes [1]. … [2] The ability to recognize, express, and manage the emotions and being reasonable are the most important effective factors on the athletes’ performance [3]. Emotional intelligence plays a very important role in the athletes’ competitive anxiety control [4]. There is a close correlation between emotional health increase and the way to deal with the physical problems [5]. There is a close correlation between emotional welfare and the range of peoples’ social compromises, qualitative enhancement of social communication, and quality of life [6]. … [7] Understanding the teammates, anxiety, behavioral characteristics, and emotional disorders are of the crucial effective factors on the athletes’ performance [8]. Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and evaluate emotions properly that leads to proper reactions to challenge the situations [9]. Emotional intelligence is a set of effective emotions that strengthen the emotional reactions and balanced behaviors through impressing the athletes’ perceptions [10]. … [11] It has been suggested that good emotional readiness during critical competitions, the ability to control emotions, and trying to achieve optimum performance are included in the mandatory part of training program of the athletes [12]. … [13-17] There are positive correlations between emotional intelligence and performance. In addition, social skills, responsibility in critical events to balance between their and others’ responsibilities, and care and responsibility for teammates’ errors are the crucial characteristics of elite athletes [18]. … [19-21] Understanding the teammates, self-confidence, behavioral characteristics, concentration, and emotional disorders are the crucial effective factors on the athletes’ performance [22].
Previous Studies
Veterans’ engagement in the athletic activities, though non-regularly, might lead to optimum levels of self-reliance, empathy, and social communications. The study of emotional intelligence and providing strategies to enhance emotional intelligence in the athletes, especially disabled athletes, might lead to motivate the veterans and disabled persons to participate in the sport activities [3].
Aim(s)
The aim of this study was to compare the level of emotional intelligence of the veteran and disabled volleyball players with non-disabled volleyball players and to investigate its correlation with national games.
Research type
This is a field study.
Research society, place and time
46 veteran and disabled volleyball players and 58 non-disabled volleyball players, participated in the Iran Volleyball Super League Competition in 2011-12, were studied.
Sampling method and number
Simple random sampling method was used. Adequacy of the sample size was done based on Morgan’s table.
Used devices&materials
In order to evaluate the athletes' emotional intelligence, Cibria Shearing emotional intelligence questionnaire was used. The questionnaire evaluated five subscales including self-awareness, self-control, self-motivation, empathy, and social skills. The questionnaire was based on Likert’s five-point scale, consisting of “fully agree”, “agree”, “no idea”, “disagree”, and “completely disagree” with scores from 1 (fully agree) to 5 (completely disagree). Validity of the questionnaire was obtained between 76 and 84% by the athletes and athletic experts. 2h before the competition, the questionnaires explaining aims of the study were given to the athletes by the researchers for 30min with coaches presence. Data were analyzed using independent-T test (to compare the subscales of emotional intelligence of two groups) and Pearson's correlation coefficient (to assess the correlation between emotional intelligence and the national game experience).
Findings by Text
Mean age and playing experience of the veteran volleyball players were 28.4±2.3 and 8.2±0.9years, respectively. Mean age and playing experience of the non-veteran volleyball players were 25.1±2.1 and 9.3±1.8years, respectively. The veteran volleyball players had higher mean scores in social skills (16.39±2.86) and empathy (17.11±2.41) sub-scales. However, both groups had similar mean scores in other sub-scales. There was a significant difference between two groups in self-control, empathy, and social skills subscales (Table 1). The national games number had a direct and significant correlation with social skills and self-control.
Main comparison to the similar studies
… [23] There was a significant difference between two groups in self-control, empathy, and social skills subscales. Veteran volleyball players had higher scores in the three scales. These are consistent with the results of other studies [3, 7, 15, 24]. In team sports, in which team cohesion is very important to success, feedbacks from external resources leads to enhance self-awareness and optimum motivation level in athletes [18, 25]. The conditions of both groups, employing experienced coaches, were similar to the above results. There was a significant correlation between the athletes’ experiences and social skills and self-control. Non-professional soccer players have lower levels of emotional intelligence variables than professional athletes [11]. Athletes with national or important competition experiences can use emotional intelligence factors to control negative behavioral characteristics [8, 15], that is consistent with the present results. More experience, negative emotions control, activity reduction, and energy economy lead to enhance athletes’ effectiveness and performance [26]. Effective communication with the teammates (social skills), care and responsibility for teammates’ errors (self-awareness and self-motivation), and encouraging inexperienced athletes when they make individual errors (empathy) make the athletes able to achieve the coaches’ aims [18]. There was, also, a significant correlation between emotional intelligence and the athletes’ desired experiences. Understanding the teammates, anxiety, behavioral characteristics, and emotional disorders are crucial effective factors on the athletes’ performances [22]. Being responsible for teammates’ errors, athletes with higher emotional intelligence have higher efficiency [17]. Team athletes have higher social skills, empathy, and self-motivation than individual athletes [19].
Suggestions
awarenace of the athletes’ moods, motivation, and having desired social skills, and making disabled volleyball players familiar with technics of emotion control, the coaches of veteran and disabled persons’ volleyball teams should provide the conditions to improve emotional intelligence subscales in order to strengthen empathy and social skills, as well as self-control dominance and adjustment of stressful behaviors.
Limitations
Uncertainty about the athletes’ psychological and physical health and referring to expert psychologists outside clubs (especially about veterans and disabled athletes) was of the limitations for the study.
Conclusions
High emotional intelligence affects optimal performance of sports skills.
Acknowledgments
The researchers feel grateful to the athletes, who participated in the study.
Conflict of interest
Non-declared
Ethical Permissions
Non-declared
Funding Sources
The study was funded by the researchers.

TABLES and CHARTS

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