The indirect association of emotional intelligence with self-reported performance-related outcomes through psychological resilience in athletes

Abstract The aim of this study is to examine the relationships between emotional intelligence and self-reported performance-related outcomes (psychological performance and subjective athletic performance satisfaction) in athletes, and to evaluate the indirect role of psychological resilience in these relationships. The research was conducted using a quantitative, cross-sectional design. A total of 403 national-team athletes aged between 18 and 38 years voluntarily participated. Data were collected through self-report measures of emotional intelligence, psychological resilience, psychological performance, and aggression, together with a visual analog scale assessing subjective athletic performance satisfaction. Direct and indirect associations were estimated using path analysis with observed composite scores. Statistical inference was based on 95% bias-corrected and accelerated (BCa) bootstrap confidence intervals obtained from 10,000 resamples, with aggression included as an auxiliary covariate. Emotional intelligence was positively associated with psychological resilience (β = 0.586, 95% BCa CI [0.495, 0.670]), and psychological resilience was positively associated with psychological performance (β = 0.469, 95% BCa CI [0.368, 0.559]) and subjective athletic performance satisfaction (β = 0.170, 95% BCa CI [0.054, 0.286]). The adjusted direct associations of emotional intelligence with psychological performance (β = 0.013, 95% BCa CI [-0.093, 0.121]) and subjective athletic performance satisfaction (β = 0.117, 95% BCa CI [-0.004, 0.231]) were not supported because their confidence intervals included zero. Significant indirect associations through psychological resilience were observed for psychological performance (β = 0.275, 95% BCa CI [0.205, 0.354]) and subjective athletic performance satisfaction (β = 0.100, 95% BCa CI [0.032, 0.176]). After accounting for aggression as an auxiliary covariate, the findings indicate that psychological resilience is an important statistical pathway linking emotional intelligence with self-reported performance-related outcomes. Because the study was cross-sectional, the results should be interpreted as directional associations rather than causal effects. Because all outcomes were self-reported with satisfaction assessed by a single item and the psychological performance measure showing mixed confirmatory factor analysis fit these associations should be interpreted with caution.