Trait emotional intelligence questionnaire full-form and short-form versions: links with sport participation frequency and duration and type of sport practiced

The main aim of this paper was to investigate further the relationship between trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) and sport participation, and more particularly its association with the amount of sport participation and the type of sport practiced (individual vs. team). A secondary aim was to investigate whether similar results would be obtained with the full-form (TEIQue-FF) and the short-form (TEIQue-SF) of the trait emotional intelligence questionnaire. A total of 972 athletes were asked to fill out the TEIQue-FF and TEIQue-SF, as well as information related to sport participation. Results showed that almost all dimensions of the TEIQue-FF and TEIQue-SF were significantly positively related to the amount of sport participation (for both frequency and duration). No differences emerged according to the type of sport, suggesting that trait EI plays an equally important role in both individual and team sports. Although large correlations were found between the TEIQue-SF and TEIQue-FF and similar results were obtained with both scales when combined with outcome criteria, the trait EI scores obtained with the TEIQue-SF are systematically higher than those obtained with the TEIQue-FF. Finally, future research should focus on longitudinal studies to investigate further the relationship between trait EI and sport participation.