The Relationship between Anxiety and Components of Emotional Intelligence in Elite Athletes

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between anxiety and components of emotional intelligence in elite athletes. Therefore, 168 elite athletes of Isfahan clubs were selected as quota. The emotional intelligence questionnaire of (Petrides and Furnham, 2003) and state-trait anxiety inventory (Speilberger, 1970) were used to measure emotional intelligence and anxiety, respectively. Results of Pearson correlation coefficient and regression analysis indicated the significant correlations between anxiety and components of emotional intelligence (p<.01) and the components of emotional intelligence also explained 28.4% of variance in anxiety. It can be suggested the emotion perception (self and others) as the best component to predict and program adequate intervention for anxiety modification as regards its high correlation coefficient (r=.523).