Purpose: The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between the emotional intelligence of participants in liberal arts physical education courses and their leader-member exchange and class satisfaction. Based on the results, the study aims to propose teaching methods that consider the emotional intelligence of students enrolled in physical education courses. The goal is to provide fundamental data to enhance the quality of these courses by fostering positive relationships.
Method: An online survey was distributed to college students nationwide via QR codes, with 385 responses ultimately being analyzed. The data were processed using SPSS 24.0 and AMOS 24.0 software. The analyses included frequency analysis, reliability analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis, and structural equation modeling.
Results: First, it was found that the emotional intelligence of students in physical education courses within liberal arts programs, which included elements such as emotional utilization, self-emotion understanding, emotional regulation, and understanding of others’ emotions, has a significant positive impact on factors of leader-member exchange. Second, the emotional intelligence of students in physical education courses within liberal arts programs, specifically in terms of self-emotion understanding, emotional utilization, emotional regulation, and understanding others’ emotions, significantly influences class satisfaction. Third, leader-member exchange among students enrolled in physical education courses within liberal arts programs was found to have a significant positive impact on class satisfaction.
Conclusion: The findings of this study highlight the importance for instructors to develop and implement strategies aimed at enhancing the emotional intelligence of students and strengthening their social exchange relationships. Furthermore, these results suggest the need to design the structure and content of liberal arts physical education classes with consideration of students’ emotional aspects to provide a more comprehensive and effective educational experience. Additionally, the finding that students with higher emotional intelligence experience more positive social exchange relationships and, consequently, higher class satisfaction underscores the need for instructors to pay greater attention to the emotional aspects of students.