Trait emotional intelligence and endurance performance in running

Endurance running performance is influenced by several variables (e.g., physiology, anthropometric factors, biomechanics, and environmental conditions). Psychological research has shown that the management of mental fatigue can play an important role in endurance running, too (e.g., brain endurance training). Previous work has also shown that trait emotional intelligence (EI) can influence running time in a half marathon. Here, we present two studies that lend further support for the role of EI while extending the findings to a more controlled situation (the 20mSRT, a test used to assess athletes VO2max). Results showed that participants with higher (vs. lower) trait EI covered a longer distance in the test even when controlling for their height, weight, sex, and whether they do sport regularly or not. Furthermore, we showed that the effect of trait EI is mediated by participants’ subjective perception of readiness to perform. Finally, in Study 2, we replicated the findings even when participants were already tired from a previous workout and when, unbeknown to them, the test was made harder than in the baseline. These findings support the important role of psychology in endurance performance and are discussed in relation to the existing work on the variables impacting running performance.