Athletes' Perceptions of Coaches' Emotional Intelligence

Purpose

Over the past decade interest in emotional intelligence has increased, specifically in the realm of athletics (Zizzi et al, 2003; Perlini, 2006). Proponents have claimed that emotional intelligence can enhance leadership performance (Dulewicz, Young, Dulewicz, 2005; Goleman, Boyatzis, McKee, 2002), team cohesion (Pratti et al, 2003), and coping with pressure (Gould, Eklund, Jackson, 1992), all of which are vital to a coach's success and a team's performance in athletics. However, no study to date has measured the emotional intelligence of athletic coaches. This study investigated the presence of emotional intelligence in intercollegiate athletic coaches.

Methods

Sixteen coaches and 223 players from two Division I softball conferences participated. Coaches' emotional intelligence was assessed via the Emotional Competence Inventory-2 (ECI-2; Hay/McBer, 2002); coaches completed the Self –Assessment version (Cronbach's alpha .63) while players assessed their coaches' emotional intelligence via the Others -Assessment version (Cronbach's alpha .78). The ECI-2 measures 18 emotional intelligence competencies organized into four clusters: Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, and Relationship Management.

Analysis/Results

Results were analyzed using multiple paired t-tests. Comparing the self-reported level of emotional intelligence competencies of the coach to the level perceived by the players indicates a significant difference (p< .05) on 14 of the 18 emotional intelligence competencies, with coaches rating themselves higher on the following 14 competencies: Accurate Self-Assessment, Emotional Self-Awareness, Adaptability, Emotional Self-Control, Optimism, Transparency, Empathy, Organizational Awareness, Service Orientation, Change Catalyst, Conflict Management, Developing Others, Influence, and Inspirational Leadership. Results of the comparison of coaches and players on the four emotional intelligence clusters also show a significant difference (p < .05), with coaches rating themselves higher on all four clusters. Coaches rated themselves highest in Social Awareness (x=4.27) while the athletes rated the coaches highest in Self-Awareness (x=3.63). Athletes gave coaches their lowest rating in Relationship Management (x=3.44). When comparing the ratings of coaches' emotional intelligence with norms from other professionals as reported in the ECI Technical Manual (Wolff, 2005), players rated coaches higher than the norm in 7 of the 18 competencies: Emotional Self-Awareness, Achievement Orientation, Initiative, Optimism, Influence, Conflict Management, and Developing Others.

Conclusions

This indicates that the Division I softball coaches in this study possessed strong abilities in emotional intelligence, which may bolster their coaching effectiveness. As pressure on coaches to win increases, the presence and development of emotional intelligence may prove to be valuable. Further investigation is needed to determine the extent of the impact of emotional intelligence on coaching success.