Research Information System
Behavioral Sciences, vol.9, no.5, 2019 (Scopus)
The present study aimed to investigate the association between trait emotional intelligence and heart rate variability (HRV) recovery responses of archers immediately after a shooting session. The sample included 87 novice archers ranging in age from 18 to 26. Participants first completed Schutte Emotional Intelligence Inventory. Then, they shot 10 arrows from 18 m to an 80-cm diameter target in four minutes. Afterward, participants’ HRV recovery responses were measured during a four-minute recovery period. In this study, HRV was represented in terms of low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF), and LF/HF ratio. Results indicated a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and HRV recovery responses. A regression model containing emotional intelligence sub-dimensions was able to explain a significant amount of variance in HRV frequency domain parameters. Besides, high emotional intelligence archers were found to have higher-level LF and HF power but a lower LF/HF ratio than their low emotional intelligence counterparts. Taken together, the results observed in the present study indicated that emotional intelligence might give rise to more adaptive HRV recovery responses following a demanding arrow shooting session.