Rooyesh-e- Ravanshenasi Journal(RRJ)

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between physical activity and emotional intelligence in athlete students and comparison with non-athlete students. To this purpose, in a causal-comparison research in 2015, 60 female athlete (35 unmarried and 25 married; age: 35.17±5.16 years) and 60 female non-athlete (Age, 35.17±5.16 years; 37 unmarried and 23 married; age: 36.92±5.41 years) among all female students of Payame-Noor University of Nehbandan was selected. Petrides-Farnham emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (PFEIQue) was used to measure emotional intelligence. Data was analyzed with SPSS software (version 18) and independent t-test at the significant level P<0.05. Results showed a significant difference between athlete and non-athlete students in some subscales of emotional intelligence. The subscales of optimism and evaluate emotions of non-athletes was significantly higher than athletes (p<0.05). This research suggests that some subscales of emotional intelligence were more in non-athletes than athletes. However, more research is needed to investigate more precisely.