Investigating the Relationship between Dark Personality Traits and Mental Skills with the Moderating Effect of Emotional Intelligence in Athletes

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between dark personality traits and athletes' mental skills with the moderating effect of emotional intelligence.
The statistical population of the present study was Iranian athletes with personal pages on social networks, from which 195 people were selected by convenience sampling. The method of the present study was descriptive-correlational and applied research. Data collection was done by questionnaires of dark personality traits (DD), emotional intelligence in sports, and Ottawa mental skills (OMSAT-3). Results were analyzed by Pearson correlation coefficient and linear regression at a significance level of 0.05.
The results showed that dark personality traits have a significant negative relationship with athletes' mental skills; and emotional intelligence moderates this relationship and reduces the negative effects of dark personality traits on athletes' mental skills. On the other hand, the results of regression analysis showed that the subscales of self-regulation, psycho-pathy, optimism, and appraisal of own emotions were significant predictors of athletes' mental skills.
The present study supports the previous findings based on the importance of coaches' attention to athletes' emotional intelligence levels. The findings of the present study were explained using findings based on the effect of personality traits and emotional intelligence on the stress process.