A Comparative Study On Emotional Intelligence And Stress In Team And Individual Adolescent Athletes

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to understand if there is a difference in Emotional intelligence and Stress between adolescent athletes who play individual sport (e.g. gymnastics, chess, diving) and team sport (e.g. Basketball, hockey). The research sample
consisted of 160 young adults between 15 to 18 years from various schools of Delhi, out of which 80 were individual game young athletes and 80 team game young athletes, the participants were selected through random sampling method and they were assessed on emotional intelligence scale by Singh and Narain and perceived stress scale (PSS) by Cohen. The data was analyzed using Pearson product-moment correlation and t test, which showed that there was a significant difference between the two groups (individual and team adolescent athletes) in terms of emotional intelligence (p < 0.05). Adolescent athletes who played a Team game scored higher on emotional intelligence compared to adolescents who played Individual games, mental health benefits of participation in team oriented or single player sports may vary between individual sport athletes and those playing team sport, gender difference was also observed girls reported significantly higher on emotional intelligence compared to boys (p <0.05) It was also seen that there was no significant
difference in the level of stress experienced by individual and team athletes, but there was a significant difference in the level of stress experienced by males and females athletes, it was observed that the male athletes experienced more stress as compared to female athletes. The data also suggested that there was a significant relationship between Stress and Emotional Intelligence (p<0.01) the paper gives an insight in understanding that team sport participation plays a factor in enhancing emotional intelligence which will further help in reducing stress in adolescents as well.