Evaluation of the relationship between emotional intelligence and motor skills in young people aged 18-25

Our research aimed to examine whether there is a relationship between emotional intelligence and motor skills of healthy young individuals between the ages of 18-25. The sample of the research consists of a total of 78 volunteers, 39 women and 39 men with right-handed preference. To evaluate motor performance as a data collection tool, the finger tapping test (FT) in the computer-based TanTuna Performance test battery and visual reaction time tests (VRT) containing 4 different tests were applied. To evaluate emotional intelligence traits, the emotional intelligence trait scale -short form (TEIQue-SF), developed by Petrides and Furnham and validated in Turkish by Deniz et al., was used. Data analysis was carried out using IBM SPSS statistical program, Mann Whitney-U test and independent sample t-test for pairwise comparisons. Spearman and Pearson correlation tests were used to examine the relationship between the tests. According to the results of the study, a significant negative correlation was found between the sociability subscale scores of the TEIQueSF and the FT results (p <0.05). Additionally, when compared by gender; It was found that men were faster than women in FT and simple VRT (p<0.05). On the other hand, it was observed that women's scores were higher than men in the TEIQue-SF emotionality subscale (p<0.05). With these features, we can say that our study brings a new perspective to the literature. We think that in future studies, planning studies using the long form of the TEIQue-SF scale, which includes more subscales, and including more participants, will contribute to the literature. Keywords: Emotional Intelligence, Finger Tapping Test, Visual Reaction Time