Emotional intelligence and autonomy-supportive interpersonal style in coaching: Review of literature

Interest in the effective coaching style which can promote young athlete`s positive development has been growing. Further, the topic of emotional intelligence has been growing in leadership theories and researchers have attempted to apply the concept into the leadership paradigm. Despite their importance, little attention has given how emotional intelligence affect athlete-centered coaching style, namely autonomy-supportive interpersonal style. To fill this gap, the purpose of this study was to review the current literature regarding emotional intelligence and self-determination theory and examine its applicability to sports coaching settings.