All published articles of this journal are available on ScienceDirect.
Deep Knowledge Principles as a Mediating Factor between Neuroticism and Sports Anxiety
Abstract
Aim:
The study aimed to investigate the relationship between neuroticism and sports anxiety and the mediating effect of the Principles for Deep Knowledge (PDK) on this relationship among athletes.
Methods:
130 athletes (males = 81, females = 49) actively competing in 16 sports teams completed three tests: the 12-item Neuroticism sub-scale of the NEO Personality Inventory, the PDK Survey, and the Sport Competition Anxiety Test.
Results:
The results revealed neuroticism to be significantly correlated to sports anxiety, especially in female athletes, and females have been found to have a higher tendency toward neuroticism. Furthermore, mediating analyses demonstrated the mediating role of PDK in linking neuroticism and sports anxiety.
Conclusion:
This study has concluded five PDK Alternating, Contrasting and Complementing, Changing and Transforming, Contradiction, and Void as better approaches to assist female athletes with high neuroticism in reducing sports anxiety. These five principles can be developed as five training approaches to avoid attitudes indicative of neuroticism and as potential coping strategies. These propositions can be developed into an outline for future research.
