Publication: Interrelationship between emotions, personality, courage and sports performance in adolescent football players in shandong province, China
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Date
2025-05
Authors
Ying, Shuai
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Abstract
This study investigates the complex interplay between personality traits, emotions, courage, and performance in adolescent football players in Shandong Province, China, addressing critical gaps by developing the first culturally specific measure of football-related emotions and examining its relationships with established psychological constructs. Using a two-phase research design, this study systematically developed measurement instruments and tested theoretical relationships. Phase 1 employed a cross-sectional design conducted in junior high schools across Shandong Province from May to July 2023, focusing on the development and initial validation of the Football Emotions Scale (FES) through literature review, expert consultation, content validity assessment, and exploratory factor analysis. Participants included 492 Chinese adolescent football players (255 males, 237 females) aged 12-15 years who were active school team members with at least one year of training and competition experience. Phase 2 utilized an independent cross-sectional design in the same geographic region from October to December 2023, concentrating on confirmatory factor analysis of all measurement instruments, validation of the complete structural equation model, and examination of hypothesized relationships. This phase involved 450 participants (235 males, 215 females) aged 12-15 years meeting identical eligibility criteria, excluding those who participated in Phase 1. The study employed multiple validated instruments: the newly developed Football Emotions Scale (FES) for assessing sport-specific emotions, the Big Five Inventory-2 (BFI-2) for personality trait measurement, the Sports Courage Scale (SCS) for courage assessment, and the Sport Performance Questionnaire (SPQ) for performance evaluation. The Football Emotions Scale demonstrated robust psychometric properties through confirmatory factor analysis (RMSEA = 0.033, CFI = 0.971, TLI = 0.968, SRMR = 0.037) with strong reliability evidence (Composite Reliability: 0.85 for Football Positive Emotion, 0.818 for Football Negative Emotion; Average Variance Extracted: 0.655 and 0.6 respectively). Chinese adaptations also demonstrated strong validity evidence: BFI-2 (RMSEA = 0.029, CFI = 0.964, TLI = 0.962, SRMR = 0.036; CR: 0.923-0.950, AVE: 0.503-0.611), SCS (RMSEA = 0.021, CFI = 0.976, TLI = 0.975, SRMR = 0.039; CR: 0.891-0.923, AVE: 0.492-0.518), and SPQ (RMSEA = 0.067, CFI = 0.968, TLI = 0.959, SRMR = 0.027; CR: 0.932, AVE: 0.559). The structural equation model examining relationships among all variables demonstrated excellent fit (RMSEA = 0.024, CFI = 0.929, TLI = 0.928, SRMR = 0.041). Key findings revealed that Conscientiousness was most strongly associated with Football Positive Emotions (β = 0.303, p < 0.001), while Negative Emotionality significantly predicted Football Negative Emotions (β = 0.562, p < 0.001). Notably, Sports Courage emerged as a significant mediator between personality traits and performance (β = 0.277, p = 0.001), highlighting its crucial role in youth football development. These findings provide theoretical insights into the psychological mechanisms underlying football performance in Chinese adolescents and offer practical implications for talent identification, coaching strategies, and psychological intervention programs in youth football development.