Emotions in Sports

In recent years the NCAA has had problems with the delinquent behavior of collegiate athletes on and off the field. The ability to know what causes athletes to act out will help athletic programs and reputations. Psychological behaviors have been related to sports performance and behavior in prior studies

In this study, we hypothesized that higher Emotional Intelligence in collegiate athletes, the ability to perceive, understand and manage one's emotions, will be related to lower acts of delinquent behavior on and off the field, as well as better performance during games. Study participants were Virginia Tech Soccer, Basketball, and Football male student athletes. We assessed emotional intelligence using the MSCEIT v.2.0 and also measured self report delinquent behavior and game statistics. None of our hypotheses were supported. A major reason for the lack of evidence to support our hypotheses may have been low statistical power and possible sampling biases.