The relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and successful athletic performance has been previously recognized, but there remains a need to investigate how EI impacts athletes' sports motivation. This cross-sectional study investigated how different EI dimensions related to athletes' motivation among 239 adult basketball players (129 females) aged 18-34 years. Our research participants completed questionnaires that included the self-reported Emotional Intelligence Scale and Sport Motivation Scale II. We found significant correlations between total EI and intrinsic, integrated, identified, and introjected regulation. Higher EI was negatively related to athletes' amotivation. More specifically, the self-reported abilities to perceive emotion and manage others' emotions were significantly related to intrinsic, integrated, and identified regulation, and only managing one's own emotions negatively related to athletes' amotivation.
Keywords: basketball players; sport motivation; trait emotional intelligence.