Are dancers more emotionally intelligent and self-regulated than non-dancers?

ABSTRACT

Dance is a creative avenue for self-expression, through which dancers express their feelings; it may help develop their empathetic skills required to perceive and understand emotions. This study aimed to empirically examine the effects of dance and dance achievement on emotional intelligence and emotion regulation. Participants were 280 women between the ages of 18–28 living in Australia; 157 had varying dance backgrounds whereas 123 were non-dancers. Participants completed the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. Results showed that the dancers emotional intelligence score was significantly greater than the non-dancers (p < .05). There were no differences between the groups in emotion-regulation scores, neither in reappraisal nor suppression scores. Results of one-way ANOVAs showed emotional intelligence scores were higher (p < .001) and reappraisal scores were lower (p < .05) as a function of dance achievement. There was no relationship between suppression and dance achievement. Findings provide preliminary support that dance may increase emotional intelligence.

KEYWORDS:

• Emotional intelligence
• emotion regulation
• reappraisal
• suppression
• embodied cognition
• dance

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Southern Cross University. We acknowledge and thank all the participants who contributed to the project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yolla Kordahi

Yolla Kordahi is a graduate from Southern Cross University. She is currently training as a psychologist following a career as a professional dancer. Yolla has developed dance-programs in areas of mental wellbeing and has implemented these programs in dance studios and high school settings.

Peter Hassmén

Peter Hassmén is a Professor of Psychology in the Faculty of Health, Southern Cross University. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles covering health, physical activity, and sport psychology.