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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1536743
This article is part of the Research Topic Determinants of Achievement in Top Sport View all 16 articles
The Structural Relationship Between Achievement Goal Orientation and Perceived Performance Among Swimmers: A Chain Multiple Mediation Model
Provisionally accepted- 1 Tianjin University of Technology and Education, Tianjin, China
- 2 Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
- 3 Huanggang Normal University, Huanggang, Hubei Province, China
Background: Achievement goal orientation (AGO) has been identified as an important determinant of Perceived Performance (PP) in athletes. However, there is limited research analysing this relationship through multiple mediation models. Methods: In this study, data from 377 competitive swimmers (45.1% female, 54.9% male, aged 18-22 years old) from Tianjin and Beijing universities were collected through questionnaires, and structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyse the relationship between AGO, Sports Enthusiasm (SE), Sports Commitment (SC), and Grit and PP. Results: AGO significantly elevated PP (β = 0.116, p < 0.001), explaining 76.6% of the total effect of AGO on PP through the chain-mediated effects of SE (β = 0.472, p < 0.001), SC (β = 0.538, p < 0.001) and Grit (β = 0.165, p < 0.001).Conclusion:The chain mediation model of this study suggests that AGO enhances swimmers' PP through SE, SC, and Grit, guiding coaches' goal setting, swimmers' progress tracking, and psychologists' reassessment strategies.
Keywords: Competitive swimming, goal orientation, Motivation in sports, sports psychology, structural equation modelling, achievement goal theory
Received: 29 Nov 2024; Accepted: 25 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhu, Zhang, Liu and Song. 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:
Weipeng Zhang, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, 300387, China
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