Emotional determinants and consequences of flow experience of young elite athletes involved in intensive training centers across the competitive season

Abstract

The present study aimed to explore the relationships between emotional intelligence (EI), athletes’ everyday cognitive appraisal, flow state and subjective performance across a competitive season. A sample of 32 young volley-ball players completed EI questionnaire at the beginning of the season and reported their experiences of everyday cognitive appraisal, flow, and performance across a competitive season. A series of hierarchical linear modelling analyses (HLM) were performed to explore the overtime associations between the selected variables. Then, a cluster analysis was computed to determine the EI profiles of the athletes and the HLM analyses were repeated for the different EI profiles. HLM results showed that (a) flow was positively predicted by challenge and negatively by loss; (b) flow positively predicted subjective performance. Sobel tests revealed that flow mediates the relationships between appraisals and performance. Moreover, cluster analyses revealed two EI profiles (high EI profile and low EI profile) with different overtime relationships between appraisals, flow, and performance. To conclude, the present study sheds light on the emotional antecedents of flow experience and highlighted the consequences of this optimal functioning in a competitive sport context (i.e., subjective performance). More precisely, trait-EI and cognitive appraisal (challenge and loss) were revealed as flow determinants whereas the subjective performance represented a consequence of flow and appraisals. This study notably supports that the outcomes of the cognitive appraisals and the relationship between flow and sport performance is depending on the individual resources. Finally, the implementations of future applied studies of these findings were discussed.