Relationships between Anxiety, Emotional Intelligence, and Motivational Climate among Adolescent Football Players

Abstract

Background: Emotional and motivational factors are fundamental in the context of sport, as they directly relate to sports performance and anxiety. Methods: The present study aimed to analyze the relationships between motivational climate (MC), emotional intelligence (EI), and anxiety within a sample of footballers playing at a low level. The sample was composed of 282 registered football players aged between 16 and 18 years old (16.96 ± 0.77), playing in the lower tier in the province of Jaen (Spain). Data were self-reported, with participants responding to the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire (PMCSQ-2), the Schutte Self-Report Inventory (SSRI), and the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Results: The results showed that footballers who reported higher levels of state anxiety and trait anxiety also demonstrated lower EI and more negatively perceived and regulated their emotions. Moreover, an ego-oriented climate was associated with higher levels of anxiety, while a task-oriented climate was related to lower levels of anxiety and higher levels of EI. No relationship was identified between the emotional aspects of young footballers and holding a motivational orientation toward an ego climate. Conclusions: Football players who more greatly perceived a task-oriented climate had higher EI and usually reported lower levels of anxiety related to sport performance. It is therefore important to promote intrinsic motivations and develop the capacity of footballers to regulate their own emotions.

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“…Іграми середньої рухливості називають такі, в яких теж активно бере участь вся група, але характер рухів гравців відносно спокійний (ходьба, передача предметів) або рух виконується підгрупами. В іграх малої рухливості руху виконуються в повільному темпі, до того ж інтенсивність їх незначна [2,4].…”

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Do Agile Managed Information Systems Projects Fail Due to a Lack of Emotional Intelligence?

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“…These findings are consistent with results of prior research. For example, male medical Iranian students perceive less test anxiety, if they have high EI (Ahmadpanah et al 2016) or young Spanish football players who have low scores in perceiving and regulating their emotions report higher levels of anxiety (Castro-Sánchez et al 2019). Recent research has indicated that EI can diminish the probability of anxiety (Abdollahi and Abu Talib 2015) and therefore can serve as a protective factor in the path from rumination to anxiety (Liu and Ren 2018).…”