Emotional Intelligence and Resilience: Predictors of Life Satisfaction among Mountain Trainers

Abstract

High-level performance in mountain sports would be unlikely unless different emotional factors are taken into account through the analysis of psychological characteristics, such as mood, resilience, or motivation, among many other variables. In this study, 788 people with a sports degree from the Spanish Federation of Mountain Sports and Climbing (FEDME) participated, 75.3% of whom were men and 24.5% of whom were women. The mean age of the participants was 49.8 years (±12.8), ranging from 18 to 76 years. The Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS-S), the RS-14 Resilience Scale, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) instruments were used. The aim of this research was to determine the relationship between the dimensions of emotional intelligence, resilience, and life satisfaction. The results showed a relationship between several of the dimensions from the instruments used (p < 0.01). In terms of gender, higher scores were found for women than for men. The regression model shows that both the dimensions of emotional intelligence [appraisal of own emotions (β = 0.104; p < 0.001); use of emotions (β = 0.30; p < 0.001); emotional regulation (β = 0.103; p < 0.001)] and resilience [personal competence (β = 0.402; p < 0.001)] are predictors of greater life satisfaction, positively explained by the regression model with 44.1% accuracy. Further proposals should extend the results obtained to the analysis of more sports modalities to provide evidence that would complement those extracted in this research.

Differential Magnitude of Resilience between Emotional Intelligence and Life Satisfaction in Mountain Sports Athletes

“…Different studies established that the dimension (acceptance of self and life) was not significantly related to life satisfaction [74]. Other research established that this relationship may be conditioned by other variables, such as self-concept [5,43].…”

“…According to the first hypothesis (H1), EI was related to the resilience variable (personal competence), with the use of emotion dimension scoring the highest. Personal competence is a factor that directly affects the emotional area, providing organisation, determination, self-control and the ability to solve problems in a positive way; resilience, in mountain athletes, as a psychosocial process, should combine psychological and social aspects such as management processes and emotional use, as well as interactions with other people that help to provide strength in high-level disciplines [5,70].…”

“…Resilience is a factor related to emotions, and generates determination, self-control and the ability to solve problems successfully. The relationship between EI and resilience suggests the presence of greater well-being to cope with experiences of adversity and develop personal competence [5,10].…”

“…EI as a capacity should be measured through tests of peak performance, whereas EI as a trait would refer to a constellation of behavioural dispositions and self-perceptions concerning one's abilities to recognise, process and use emotionally charged information [19]. Among studies on mountaineering and outdoor sports athletes, we highlighted those that analysed the use of emotional regulation strategies [20], EI and emotional competences of athletes [21][22][23], EI in mountain trainers [5] and the influence of EI on climbing performance [24,25].…”

“…There are still few studies analysing resilience, emotional intelligence (EI) and its relationship with life satisfaction in mountain sports, due to the characteristics of the discipline. EI and resilience not only refer to the adaptive capacity that can be developed after an adverse experience, but can also positively affect sporting performance in extreme conditions [5,6].…”