Do high emotional intelligent soccer referees better cope with competitive stressors?

Abstract

Refereeing in sport is a particularly stressful task that requires coping effectively with interpersonal pressures. Emotional intelligence could participate to promote soccer referees’ better adjustment. The relations between emotional intelligence and coping could also discriminate soccer referees according to their level of expertise. Thus, the aim of this study is to explore the influences of emotional intelligence among soccer officials, by analyzing the relations between emotional intelligence, the level of expertise level, and the use of coping strategies. Two studies were conducted in which 116 and 75 soccer referees participated. They completed two inventories related to emotional intelligence and coping. Results indicated the presence of two profiles of emotional intelligence. In comparison to the moderate emotional intelligence cluster, most of the high-skilled referees belonged to the moderately high emotional intelligence profile. Furthermore, the dimensions of emotional intelligence predicted significantly and positively the use of task-oriented coping. These results provide a new contribution to the literature in sport psychology on emotional intelligence and coping and propose further perspectives for sport officials’ psychological preparation.