Perceived emotional intelligence and the psychological well-being of university students depending on the practice of physical activity

The main objective was to analyse the perceived emotional intelligence and the psychological wellbeing of university students with regard to their physical activity practice. A sample of 1008 students from a public university in Andalusia, Spain, was utilised. The subjects were between 17 and 30 years of age. Four-hundred and fourteen subjects were physically active, and 614 subjects were less active. Various questionnaires were utilised to evaluate the subjects' normal physical activity, their perceived emotional intelligence, and their psychological wellbeing. The correlational analysis demonstrated that the constructs of emotional clarity and repair were positively and significantly related to self-esteem and life satisfaction. Significant differences were found between the physically active subjects and those that were not active for all variables, except in the emotional attention. The physically active students demonstrated higher scores for the variables that measured wellbeing (self-esteem and life satisfaction), for clarity, and for emotional repair. The results are discussed in relation to the promotion of physical activity, as favouring wellbeing and perceived emotional intelligence for university students.