Unpacking the Emotional Experience of Athletes: An Assessment of Shame, Guilt and Anxiety

Abstract

Athletes are susceptible to experiencing negative emotions such as Shame, Guilt and Anxiety. These emotions have been known to be injurious to their overall well-being while concurrently inhibiting their athletic performance. An assessment of these feelings is a favorable way to provide coaches and other sport professionals with the relevant information needed to create an environment that is designed to support athlete's mental health. The goal of this study, therefore, is examine the interrelationship between sport-shame, sport-guilt and sport-anxiety. A total of 144 undergraduate students participated in this study. An Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed a three-factor model namely: Shame, Guilt and Anxiety. The results, also, indicate that these constructs are significantly and positively interrelated and they each uniquely contribute to an athlete's sport emotion. Findings also suggested that females experience more shame in sports than males, but guilt and anxiety are similar across both sexes.