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Abstract
Individuals with higher levels of emotional intelligence (EI) have demonstrated greater success in academics, business, leadership, medicine, and sport. Indeed, previous research has identified EI as a source of success, however little research has examined the role of EI in coaching success. Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess the power of EI in predicting coaches’ success. To fully vet EI’s influence, the present study examined variables which previously differentiated coaching success including, age, gender, education level, coaching experience, and playing experience. Three research questions were examined in this study: 1) Does a coaches’ self-reported EI significantly predict coaches’ career winning percentage? 2) Was there a statistically significant relationship between self-reported EI and age, gender, education level, head coaching experience, assistant coaching experience, and playing experience? 3) Which variables, if any, could be used in a regression formula to predict a coaches’ career winning percentage? Participants were current and former head college basketball and volleyball coaches. Each coach completed the Assessing Emotions Scale (Schutte et al., 1998) as well as a background questionnaire. Additionally, career winning percentage was obtained by the researchers through institutional websites and NCAA databases. Relationships between EI, coaching success, and the previously mentioned variables were primarily analyzed through multiple linear regression and correlation analyses. EI was not a significant predictor of coaching success when both sport coaches were analyzed together. However, when examined separately, results indicated that EI was a significant predictor of basketball but not volleyball coaches’ success. Additionally, basketball coaches’ success was influenced by age. Volleyball coaches’ success was influenced by head coaching experience and playing experience. Specifically, greater head coaching experience supported greater success while higher reported playing experience negatively impacted coaches’ success. In spite of the previous findings, the most meaningful finding of this study was EI’s non-uniform impact on coaching success. As the data revealed, EI may meaningfully impact some coaches’ success but not others. As such, future research should examine various sport coaches’ EI. This may help create an EI profile reflecting characteristics of coaches EI, how they utilize EI, and to what degree EI influences success.