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. 2023 Mar 28:14:1146372.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1146372. eCollection 2023.

Beyond physical ability-predicting women's football performance from psychological factors

Susann Dahl Pettersen  1 , Monica Martinussen  1 , Bjørn Helge Handegård  1 , Lene-Mari Potulski Rasmussen  1 , Roman Koposov  1 , Frode Adolfsen  1
Affiliations

Beyond physical ability-predicting women's football performance from psychological factors

Susann Dahl Pettersen et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Introduction: Even though there is a clear agreement among researchers that psychological factors are a vital part of a football player's performance, the topic has not been investigated thoroughly. The present study aimed to examine the predictive value of psychological factors on female football players' match performance.

Methods: A sample of 156 players from the top two leagues in Norway completed the following questionnaires: Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire 2 (PMCSQ-2), Big Five Inventory (BFI-20), Self-Regulated Learning questionnaire, and Grit-S and Sport Mental Toughness Questionnaire (SMTQ). Match performance data were collected from the online database of the performance analysis company InStat.

Results: Results from a linear mixed model analysis showed that perceived mastery climate and extraversion were the only significant predictors of performance. Other relevant indicators, such as mental toughness, self-regulated learning, and grit, did not predict performance.

Discussion: These findings suggest that the team climate facilitated by coaches may be more important for predicting match performance than individual psychological factors.

Keywords: football; motivational climate; performance; personality; soccer; sports psychology; team sport.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of InStat Index scores.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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