The Impacting Factors And Mechanism Of Athlete Engagement

With the rising of positive psychology in recent years, engagement has been becoming a hot topic gradually, which is opposite to burnout. In this background, there have been researchers who proposed the concept of athlete engagement and defined it as a persistent, positive, cognitive-affective experience in sport that was characterized by confidence, dedication, vigor and enthusiasm. Research perspective shifting from athlete burnout to athlete engagement was of important significance. It not only broadened the vision and scope of sports psychology study, but also was complied with the trend of positive psychology. In order to better guide the intervention study and practice of athlete engagement, it’s most urgent for us to ascertain the impacting factors and formation mechanism of athlete engagement. Based on the above consideration, a sample of483Chinese active athletes were recruited in the study to complete Athlete Engagement Questionnaire, Coach-athlete Relationship Questionnaire, Gratitude Questionnaire, Perceived Available Support in Sport Questionnaire, Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire, Coping Inventory for Competitive Sport. The main conclusions of this study are as follows:(1) There was significant difference between male and female athlete in athlete engagement. Specifically, scores of male athlete was higher than that of female athlete. There were no significant differences between different sports level and training years.(2) Gratitude and coach-athlete relationship significantly positively predicted athlete engagement. Gratitude not only had direct effect on athlete engagement, but also indirectly impacted athlete engagement through coach-athlete relationship. The mediating effect of coach-athlete relationship accounted for21%of the total effect. In theory, exploring the relationship between gratitude and athlete engagement as well as its internal mechanism can help researchers understand the formation of athlete engagement. In practice, these findings highlight the importance of gratitude for harmonious coach-athlete relationship. It enlightens us that gratitude intervention may be an effective method for the management of coach-athlete relationship.(3) Social support and mental toughness significantly positively predicted athlete engagement. Mental toughness partially mediated the relationship between social support and athlete engagement. The mediating effect accounted for53%of the total effect. It was suggested that athlete engagement was changeable, which was mutual affected by social support and mental toughness. Compared with social support, mental toughness was more proximal factors of athlete engagement. Through increasing social support and training mental toughness, we can improve the level of athlete engagement.(4) Mental toughness and task-oriented significantly positively predicted athlete engagement. On the contrary, disengagement-oriented significantly negatively predicted athlete engagement. Task-oriented coping and disengagement-oriented partially mediated the relationship between mental toughness and athlete engagement. The mediating effect accounted for52%of the total effect. This suggested that coping was more proximal factor of athlete engagement when compared with mental toughness. We can promote the level of athlete engagement by strengthening mental toughness and conducting coping style guidance.