Uniwersyteckie Czasopisma NaukoweThe interplay between perfectionism, perceived stress, and self-confidence in competitive athletes: indirect pathways and total unique effects
Słowa kluczowe:
sport, perceived stress, self-confidence, perfectionism, athleteAbstrakt
Background:
Although perfectionistic strivings and concerns show distinct associations with athletes’ psychological functioning, no study has estimated their total unique effects on perceived stress and self-confidence. Moreover, it remains untested whether perceived stress serves as a pathway linking perfectionism to athletes’ self-confidence. We aimed to a) estimate the total unique effects of perfectionism on perceived stress and self-confidence, and b) test the indirect effects of both perfectionism dimensions on self-confidence via perceived stress.
Participants and procedure:
A total of 214 Polish athletes (98 female, 116 male; age range 14-30; M = 18.94, SD = 2.90) from individual and team sports, competing at diverse sport levels, completed online questionnaires assessing perfectionism, perceived stress, and self-confidence. Total unique effects were estimated and path analyses were conducted using structural equation modeling with bootstrapped confidence intervals.
Results:
Total unique effects of perfectionism were relatively large for perceived stress and small to medium for self-confidence. Perfectionistic concerns positively predicted perceived stress and negatively predicted self-confidence, whereas perfectionistic strivings showed no significant effect on stress and positively predicted confidence. The indirect effect of perfectionistic concerns on self-confidence via perceived stress was significant (B = −0.15, 95% CI [−0.289, −0.053]). Perfectionistic strivings showed no indirect effect (B = −0.01, 95% CI [−0.097, 0.053]).
Conclusions:
The findings suggest perceived stress as a potential pathway linking perfectionistic concerns to reduced self-confidence, contributing 21% of its total effect. Perfectionistic strivings appear to enhance confidence independently of perceived stress. Longitudinal research is needed to confirm the direction and stability of these pathways.
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Bibliografia
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