Emotional Intelligence and Physical Activity.

OBJECTIVE: This report summarizes the first study (to the best of our knowledge) of the association between emotional intelligence (EI) and physical activity (PA) levels in a sample of generally healthy adults.

METHODS: An online snowball sample of 110 generally healthy adults took part in this study and filled out measures of EI, PA, and background variables.

RESULTS: Analysis of structural equating modeling supported a path of positive association between EI and PA ranging from .20 to .28, controlling for background variables associated with PA. Of these, only education showed significant associations with PA.

CONCLUSIONS: EI may play a role in individuals' PA patterns. Potential underlying mechanisms and directions for future research are suggested.