Running in Natural Spaces: Gender Analysis of Its Relationship with Emotional Intelligence, Psychological Well-Being, and Physical Activity

Abstract

Running is a complete and accessible physical exercise for the population, but little research has been done on the psychological and environmental variables related to its practice. The objective of this research was to determine how emotional intelligence, psychological well-being, and body dissatisfaction are related to running in natural spaces for men and women. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 331 runners from 20 states of the Mexican Republic (55.3% women), between 18 and 80 years old (m = 37.4; SD = 11.5), with an average of 7 years running experience (SD = 9.3). The Brief Emotional Intelligence Inventory, the Psychological Well-Being Scale, and the Body Shape Questionnaire were used. The results show that men who run in natural spaces have greater psychological well-being and emotional intelligence (stress management) and less body dissatisfaction, and they run more days per week than those who run in built spaces. Predictors of running in natural spaces were greater psychological well-being and emotional intelligence (stress management). On the other hand, women who run in natural spaces show lower emotional intelligence (stress management) and run for more minutes per day. The predictors for running in natural spaces were identified as lower emotional intelligence (stress management), running for more minutes per day, and practicing another physical exercise. In conclusion, in this heterogeneous sample, natural environments are likely to be related to better performance and certain psychological indicators for runners. However, these relationships differ between men and women, so further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm our findings.

Relationship between emotional intelligence and job stressors of psychiatric nurses: A multi‐centre cross‐sectional study

“…The results depict that the lack of physical exercise also has a negative predictive effect on the total score of EI and UOE, self‐emotional appraisal, and ROE, consistent with previous studies (Campos‐Uscanga et al, 2022). Physical exercise enhances emotion regulation and confidence by stimulating the release of enkephalin, serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine.…”

“…On the other hand, variables that emerged as statistically significant through independent samples t‐tests, one‐way ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation analysis were regarded as independent variables. Based on the results from previous studies (Alshammari et al, 2020., Campos‐Uscanga et al, 2022), age was incorporated as a dummy variable, with ‘≥40 years old’ ‘Grade 3 hospital’, ‘non‐single child’, and ‘physical exercise’ being the reference points. Through multiple linear regression analysis, employing ‘alpha‐to‐enter’ and ‘alpha‐to‐remove’ values of 0.05 and 0.10, respectively, the results underscored the statistical significance of <30 years of age, 30–39 years of age, physical exercise, and job stressors on the total EI score (mean p < 0.05), explaining 44.50% of the total variation.…”