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Achievement goals and emotions in athletes: The mediating role of challenge and threat appraisals

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Abstract

Although the relationships between achievement goals and discrete emotions have been examined in a few studies, the process through which these relationships occur has received little attention. The present study investigated whether task and ego achievement goals were related to excitement, hope, and anxiety and whether these relationships were mediated by challenge and threat appraisals. We also examined whether the two achievement goals interact to predict emotions. Undergraduate students (N = 344) completed a multi-section questionnaire assessing achievement goals, challenge and threat appraisals, perceived competence, hope, excitement, concentration disruption, worry, and somatic anxiety before taking part in a team sport trial. Results showed that task goal was positively related to excitement and hope, and these relationships were mediated by challenge appraisal. In addition, threat appraisal mediated the relationship between task goal and concentration disruption. Ego goal was indirectly related to excitement through challenge appraisal. Finally, ego goal positively predicted concentration disruption at low but not high levels of task goal. Our findings suggest that achievement goals may influence emotions through cognitive appraisals and the interaction between task and ego goals needs to be considered in future research.

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Notes

  1. A mediating variable represents the mechanism through which the independent variable influences the dependent variable (Baron and Kenny 1986).

  2. One challenge item from the cognitive appraisals scale (I often think about what it would be like if I do well in the trial), one hope item from the Achievement Emotion Questionnaire (hoping for success I’m motivated to invest a lot of effort), and one worry item from the Sport Anxiety Scale (I’m worrying that I will let others down) were removed from the analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK

    Maria Kavussanu, Andrew J. Dewar & Ian D. Boardley

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  1. Maria Kavussanu
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  2. Andrew J. Dewar
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  3. Ian D. Boardley
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Correspondence to Maria Kavussanu.

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Kavussanu, M., Dewar, A.J. & Boardley, I.D. Achievement goals and emotions in athletes: The mediating role of challenge and threat appraisals. Motiv Emot 38, 589–599 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-014-9409-2

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