Examining the effects of competitive state anxiety and goal orientation on sports performance of college track and field athletes
Existing studies on athletes’ sports performance (SP) have identified significant associations between competitive state anxiety (CSA) and goal orientation (GO). However, few studies have explored the intrinsic relationships among CSA, GO, and SP. Moreover, there is a lack of attention paid to colle...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1607747/full |
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| author | Ziwei Wu Ziwei Wu Feng Luo Xu Liu Junhua Li Yin Zhou Jie Luo |
| author_facet | Ziwei Wu Ziwei Wu Feng Luo Xu Liu Junhua Li Yin Zhou Jie Luo |
| author_sort | Ziwei Wu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Existing studies on athletes’ sports performance (SP) have identified significant associations between competitive state anxiety (CSA) and goal orientation (GO). However, few studies have explored the intrinsic relationships among CSA, GO, and SP. Moreover, there is a lack of attention paid to college track and field (T&F) athletes as a specific group, particularly regarding the role of GO in this process. We investigated the relationship between CSA and GO as well as their effects on athletes’ SP using a sample of Chinese college T&F athletes (N = 87, 44.8% female). Specifically, the mediating role of GO in the relationship between CSA and SP was examined. Task orientation significantly mediated the relationship between self-confidence and SP, with higher levels of task orientation leading to shorter completion times for the 1500-meter race. However, ego orientation was not associated with sports performance. These findings suggest that fostering task orientation and enhancing self-confidence are crucial to improving SP. This study deepens our understanding of CSA and GO in athletes by contributing to the current theoretical framework. Furthermore, our results offer practical recommendations for coaches and educators to develop evidence-based training strategies aimed at optimizing athletes’ psychological and sports performance. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-fedf8ebb00a44e10bb4237c805f1fddc |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj-art-fedf8ebb00a44e10bb4237c805f1fddc2025-08-20T02:33:35ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782025-06-011610.3389/fpsyg.2025.16077471607747Examining the effects of competitive state anxiety and goal orientation on sports performance of college track and field athletesZiwei Wu0Ziwei Wu1Feng Luo2Xu Liu3Junhua Li4Yin Zhou5Jie Luo6School of Educational Science, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, ChinaCollege of Sports and Health, Huaihua University, Huaihua, ChinaCollege of Sports and Health, Huaihua University, Huaihua, ChinaSchool of Educational Science, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, ChinaCollege of Sports and Health, Huaihua University, Huaihua, ChinaSchool of Educational Science, Huaihua University, Huaihua, ChinaSchool of Physical Education, Hunan First Normal University, Changsha, ChinaExisting studies on athletes’ sports performance (SP) have identified significant associations between competitive state anxiety (CSA) and goal orientation (GO). However, few studies have explored the intrinsic relationships among CSA, GO, and SP. Moreover, there is a lack of attention paid to college track and field (T&F) athletes as a specific group, particularly regarding the role of GO in this process. We investigated the relationship between CSA and GO as well as their effects on athletes’ SP using a sample of Chinese college T&F athletes (N = 87, 44.8% female). Specifically, the mediating role of GO in the relationship between CSA and SP was examined. Task orientation significantly mediated the relationship between self-confidence and SP, with higher levels of task orientation leading to shorter completion times for the 1500-meter race. However, ego orientation was not associated with sports performance. These findings suggest that fostering task orientation and enhancing self-confidence are crucial to improving SP. This study deepens our understanding of CSA and GO in athletes by contributing to the current theoretical framework. Furthermore, our results offer practical recommendations for coaches and educators to develop evidence-based training strategies aimed at optimizing athletes’ psychological and sports performance.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1607747/fullcompetitive state anxietygoal orientationsports performancetrack and field athletestask orientationego orientation |
| spellingShingle | Ziwei Wu Ziwei Wu Feng Luo Xu Liu Junhua Li Yin Zhou Jie Luo Examining the effects of competitive state anxiety and goal orientation on sports performance of college track and field athletes Frontiers in Psychology competitive state anxiety goal orientation sports performance track and field athletes task orientation ego orientation |
| title | Examining the effects of competitive state anxiety and goal orientation on sports performance of college track and field athletes |
| title_full | Examining the effects of competitive state anxiety and goal orientation on sports performance of college track and field athletes |
| title_fullStr | Examining the effects of competitive state anxiety and goal orientation on sports performance of college track and field athletes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Examining the effects of competitive state anxiety and goal orientation on sports performance of college track and field athletes |
| title_short | Examining the effects of competitive state anxiety and goal orientation on sports performance of college track and field athletes |
| title_sort | examining the effects of competitive state anxiety and goal orientation on sports performance of college track and field athletes |
| topic | competitive state anxiety goal orientation sports performance track and field athletes task orientation ego orientation |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1607747/full |
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