Psychological Skills, Emotional Intelligence and Goal Orientation Among Young Adult Female Athletes in Team and Individual Sports

This study examined differences and associations in psychological skills, emotional intelligence, and achievement goal orientation among female athletes in team and individual sports. A comparative cross-sectional design with purposive sampling was used to recruit athletes from sports clubs and training academies in Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu, India. The main analysis included 98 athletes aged 18–25 years: 48 team athletes and 50 individual athletes. Participants completed the Unified Mental Skills Assessment Tool–6 short form, Brief Emotional Intelligence Scale, and Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire through an online survey. Mann–Whitney tests and Spearman correlations were conducted with Bonferroni adjustments. No statistically significant group differences were found in any of the four outcomes. Psychological skills were positively associated with task orientation in both team (rₛ = 0.646) and individual (rₛ = 0.396) athletes after adjustment. Among team athletes, emotional intelligence was also positively associated with psychological skills (rₛ = 0.581) and task orientation (rₛ = 0.643). Ego orientation showed no significant associations with the other outcomes. These findings suggest an association between psychological skills and mastery-based goal orientation across both sport groups. However, limited reliability of some scores, purposive sampling, and the cross-sectional design warrant cautious interpretation.