Exploring the Interplay of Sports Anxiety, Motivation, and Trait Confidence in Elite Indian Athletes

Abstract

This study investigates the relationships among sports anxiety, sports motivation, and trait sport confidence in 110 elite Indian athletes competing in individual sports such as shooting, tennis, and badminton. Data were collected from venues like Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex using the Sport Anxiety Scale (SAS), Sport Motivation Scale (SMS), and Trait Sport Confidence Inventory (TSCI). Non-parametric analyses, necessitated by non-normal distributions (e.g., anxiety skewness = 0.74, motivation skewness = -0.50), revealed a significant negative correlation between sports anxiety (M = 43.55, SD = 12.32) and sports motivation (M = 59.47, SD = 11.33; r_s = -0.202, p < .05), a strong negative correlation with trait sport confidence (r_s = -0.602, p < .01), and a weak positive correlation between motivation and confidence (r_s = 0.239, p < .05). Gender differences were significant only for anxiety, with males (M = 43.2) reporting higher levels than females (M = 37.8; U = 1123.5, p = .015). These findings suggest that anxiety undermines psychological resources, with cultural factors like patriarchal pressures influencing gender disparities. Implications include tailored interventions to mitigate anxiety and enhance motivation, alongside adapting Western tools for Indian contexts to address sampling and design limitations.