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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1462295
This article is part of the Research Topic Promoting Inclusion and Representation: The Role of Cultural Diversity in Sports View all 10 articles

A Taxonomy of Athletic Values and Implications for Clinical Practice There are no conflicts of interest to disclose. The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request

Provisionally accepted
  • 1 Novant Health, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States
  • 2 Moses H Cone Memorial Hospital, Greensboro, North Carolina, United States
  • 3 Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The current study surveyed collegiate student-athletes regarding their perceived level of importance surrounding 30 previously derived and empirically obtained athletic values to improve viability of sport psychological practices. A total of 162 student-athletes enrolled in a private Midwestern NCAA Division 1 university within the United States of America completed tasks asking them to sort and rate utilized values based upon perceived importance surrounding athletic performance and sustained excellence. Results revealed a hierarchy of athletic values, favoring intrinsic values, useable when emphasizing the importance of value-driven behavior in applied sport psychological practices. Minimal differences were seen across gender, ethnicity, sport classification, and other comparative groups. Current results may help inform sport psychological practice while working within value-based frameworks.

    Keywords: sport psychology, Mindfulness Acceptance and Commitment, value-driven behavior, performance enhancement, athletic values

    Received: 09 Jul 2024; Accepted: 04 Feb 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Collins, Merz, Gfeller and Ross. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Zachary C Merz, Moses H Cone Memorial Hospital, Greensboro, North Carolina, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.