Exploring emotion abilities and regulation strategies in sport organizations

This study aimed to contribute to a growing theoretical body of literature relating to the role of emotional intelligence abilities and emotion regulation strategies in creating optimally functioning in sport organizations. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 21 participants (athletes, coaches, administrators, national performance directors, and chief executive officers) representing 5 national sport organizations. Key emotion abilities (i.e., identifying, processing and comprehending, and managing emotions) associated with the use of specific experience and expression regulation strategies (e.g., forward-tracking, back-tracking, reappraisal, suppression, and impulse control) were identified, providing important insights into how such emotion abilities may be developed within sport. Emotion abilities were found to be highly contextualized and appeared to influence regulation strategy selection through sociocultural norms present within organizations. Based on these findings, approaches to developing emotion abilities may be effective in facilitating organizational functioning by assisting individuals to perceive, process, comprehend, and manage emotions intelligently.