How do Personality Traits Affect the Achievement Motivation of High School Students Taking Sports-related Exams

Authors

  • Longan Cao School of Physical Education, Southwest University, Chongqing, China

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54097/s6zavx37

Keywords:

Personality Traits, Achievement Motivation, Social Support, Sports College Entrance Examination

Abstract

Purpose: In an era characterized by intense competition for sports talent, ensuring the mental well-being of students undertaking the sports college entrance examination is increasingly crucial due to its significant impact on their athletic performance. To explore effective approaches in fostering academic motivation among students preparing for this exam, this study adopts a social psychology perspective and examines how personality traits influence academic motivation. Furthermore, it investigates the associations between personality traits, achievement motivation, and social support. Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted on 601 students who had participated in the college entrance examination of sports in 2023, utilizing the Five-Factor Personality Inventory, Competitive Motive Inventory, and Perceived Social Support Scale. Statistical software tools such as SPSS 26.0 were employed to validate the research hypotheses posited in this study. Results: The sports college entrance examination demonstrates a significant positive correlation between personality traits and achievement motivation (r=0.291, p=0.000). Additionally, there is a notable positive correlation observed between personality traits and social support (r=0.245, p=0.000), as well as between achievement motivation and social support (r=0.385, p=0.000). Personality traits exert a direct influence on achievement motivation (path coefficient = 0.225) while also indirectly affecting it through the mediating role of social support (path coefficient = 0.354). Social support serves as a partial mediator in the relationship between personality traits and achievement motivation with a mediation effect value of 0.089. Conclusion: The personality traits not only directly influence the motivation for academic achievement in sports entrance examinations but also indirectly impact students' achievement motivation through social support. These research findings offer a novel perspective for mitigating psychological anxiety and enhancing achievement motivation among candidates taking sports entrance examinations in China and globally. This study underscores the significance of effectively integrating personal growth with social support for sports entrance examination candidates.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

[1] Feng, J. J. (2020). Construction of education system for all around development of moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetics and labor education: Rationales and strategies. Journal of Northwest Normal University (Social Sciences), 57, 5–14. (In Chinese)

[2] Li, S. C., Tang, C., Guo, C., & Bu, T. (2023). Psychometric properties of the Sport Anxiety Scale 2 for Chinese adolescent athletes taking the National Sports College Entrance Examination. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 11. https://doi.org/10. 3389/ fped.2023.1127602.

[3] Singh, B. (2018). High school students’ academic achievement in relation to their achievement motivation and intelligence. Journal of Advances and Scholarly Researches in Allied Education, 15, 212–217.

[4] Moradi, J., Bahrami, A., & Dana, A. (2020). Motivation for participation in sports based on athletes in team and individual sports. Physical Culture and Sport. Studies and Research, 85, 14–21. https://doi.org/10.2478/pcssr 2020 0013.

[5] Fletcher, K. L., & Speirs Neumeister, K. L. (2012). Research on perfectionism and achievement motivation: Implications for gifted students. Psychology in the Schools, 49, 668–677. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.21621.

[6] Ong, N. C. H. (2017). Assessing objective achievement motivation in elite athletes: A comparison according to gender, sport type, and competitive level. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 17, 397–409. https://doi. org/10. 1080/ 1612197X.2017.1329824.

[7] Đurović, D., Aleksić Veljković, A., & Petrović, T. (2020). Psychological aspects of motivation in sport achievement. Facta Universitatis, Series: Physical Education and Sport, 18, 465.

[8] Mudrak, J., Slepicka, P., & Slepickova, I. (2018). Sport motivation and doping in adolescent athletes. PLOS ONE, 13, e0205222. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205222.

[9] Pietrzak, A., & Tokarz, A. (2019). Structure of achievement motivation dispositions in elite and non elite track and field athletes. Physical Culture and Sport. Studies and Research, 83, 63–73. https://doi.org/10.2478/pcssr 2019 0024.

[10] Maher, A. M., Thomson, C. J., & Carlson, S. R. (2015). Risk taking and impulsive personality traits in proficient downhill sports enthusiasts. Personality and Individual Differences, 79, 20–24. https://doi.org/10. 1016/j. paid. 2015. 01. 041.

[11] Zach, S., & Inglis, V. (2019). The relationships between personality traits, subjective well being, and academic achievements among physical education teacher education students. Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, 18, 52–66.

[12] Brown Devlin, N., & Devlin, M. B. (2019). Winning with personality: Underscoring antecedents for college students’ motives for team identification. Communication & Sport, 8, 364–388. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479519879443.

[13] Brinkman, C. S., Weinberg, R. S., & Ward, R. M. (2016). The big five personality model and self determined motivation in sport. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 47, 389–407.

[14] Vallerand, R. J. (2004). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in sport. In C. Spielberger (Ed.), Encyclopedia of applied psychology (pp. 427–435). Academic Press.

[15] Cohen, S., Gottlieb, B. H., & Underwood, L. G. (2000). Social relationships and health. In S. Cohen, L. G. Underwood, & B. H. Gottlieb (Eds.), Social support measurement and intervention (pp. 3–26). Oxford University Press.

[16] Caleon, I. S., Wui, M. G. L., Chiam, C. L., King, R. B., Tan, J. P. L., & Tan, C. S. (2016). Personal strengths and perceived teacher support as predictors of Singapore students’ academic risk status. Educational Psychology, 37, 983–1000. https://doi. org/10.1080/01443410.2016.1213240.

[17] Andrews, G., Tennant, C., Hewson, D. M., & Vaillant, G. E. (1978). Life event stress, social support, coping style, and risk of psychological impairment. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 166, 307–316. https://doi.org/10. 1097/ 00005053 197805000 00004.

[18] Sun, T., & Wu, G. (2012). Influence of personality traits on parasocial relationship with sports celebrities: A hierarchical approach. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 11, 136–146. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.374.

[19] Katagami, E., & Tsuchiya, H. (2016). Effects of social support on athletes’ psychological well being: The correlations among received support, perceived support, and personality. Psychology, 07, 1741–1752.

[20] Dai, Z., Liu, Q., Ma, W., & Yang, C. (2021). The influence of social support and ability perception on coping strategies for competitive stress in soccer players: The mediating role of cognitive assessment. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi. org/ 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.643127.

[21] Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The ‘what’ and ‘why’ of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 269–318. https://doi.org/ 10. 1207/S15327965PLI1104_02.

[22] Dorsch, T. E., Wright, E., Eckardt, V. C., Elliott, S., Thrower, S. N., & Knight, C. J. (2021). A history of parent involvement in organized youth sport: A scoping review. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 10, 536–557. https://doi.org/ 10. 1037/ spy0000277.

[23] Barańczuk, U. (2019). The five factor model of personality and social support: A meta analysis. Journal of Research in Personality, 81, 38–46. https://doi.org/10. 1016/j.jrp. 2019. 05. 003.

[24] Luo, J., Liu, X. B., Yao, Q., Qu, Y., Yang, J., Lin, K., et al. (2024). Correction: The relationship between social support and professional identity of health professional students from a two way social support theory perspective: Chain mediating effects of achievement motivation and meaning in life. BMC Medical Education, 24. https://doi.org/10.1186/s1290 9 024 04381 9.

[25] Herzberg, F. (1976). One more time: How do you motivate employees (pp. 17–32). Palgrave Macmillan UK.

[26] Zhou, H., Niu, L. L., & Zou, H. (2000). A development study on five factor personality questionnaire for middle school students. Psychol Dev Educ, 01, 48–54. (In Chinese)

[27] Blumenthal, J. A., Burg, M. M., Barefoot, J., Williams, R. B., Haney, T., & Zimet, G. (1987). Social support, type A behavior, and coronary artery disease. Psychosomatic Medicine, 49, 331–340. https://doi.org/10.1097/ 000068 42 198 707 000 00003.

[28] Furnham, A. (2018). The bright and dark side of achievement motivation. Current Psychology, 40, 1271–1279. https:// doi. org/ 10.1007/s12144 018 9984 3.

[29] Achakul, C., & Yolles, M. (2012). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in personality: Assessing knowledge profiling and the work preference inventory in a Thai population. SSRN Electronic Journal, 10, 196–217. https://doi.org/ 10.2139/ ssrn. 2150370.

[30] García Bengoechea, E., Wilson, P. M., & Dunn, S. (2017). From liability to challenge: Complex environments are associated with favorable psychosocial outcomes in adolescent sport participants. Journal of Adolescence, 58, 74–83. https://doi.org/10. 1016/j.adolescence.2017.05.008.

[31] Roohafza, H., Feizi, A., Afshar, H., Mazaheri, M., Behnamfar, O., Hassanzadeh Keshteli, A., et al. (2016). Path analysis of relationship among personality, perceived stress, coping, social support, and psychological outcomes. World Journal of Psychiatry, 6, 248. https://doi.org/10.5498/wjp.v6.i2.248.

[32] Pornsakulvanich, V. (2017). Personality, attitudes, social influences, and social networking site usage predicting online social support. Computers in Human Behavior, 76, 255–262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.07.015.

[33] Edler, J. S., Manz, K., Rojas Perilla, N., Baumeister, H., & Cohrdes, C. (2022). The role of personality traits and social support in relations of health related behaviours and depressive symptoms. BMC Psychiatry, 22. https://doi.org/ 10. 1186/ s1 2888 022 03988 1.

[34] Smith, K. A., Barstead, M. G., & Rubin, K. H. (2016). Neuroticism and conscientiousness as moderators of the relation between social withdrawal and internalizing problems in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46, 772–786. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964 016 0533 8.

[35] Radovic, A., Gmelin, T., Stein, B. D., & Miller, E. (2016). Depressed adolescents’ positive and negative use of social media. Journal of Adolescence, 55, 5–15. https://doi.org/ 10. 1016/ j. adolescence.2016.02.002.

[36] Dweck, C. S. (1986). Motivational processes affecting learning. American Psychologist, 41(10), 1040–1048. https://doi. org/ 10. 1037/0003 066X.41.10.1040.

[37] Bandura, A. (1997). Self efficacy: The exercise of control. W. H. Freeman.

[38] Wei, Z. (2022). Social support, psychological responses, and mental health among college students during online learning. Interactive Learning Environments, 32, 78–89. https://doi.org/ 10. 1080/10494820.2022.2068332.

[39] Petersen, K. J., Qualter, P., Humphrey, N., Damsgaard, M. T., & Madsen, K. R. (2023). With a little help from my friends: Profiles of perceived social support and their associations with adolescent mental health. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 32, 3430–3446. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826 023 02621 4.

[40] Eggens, L., van der Werf, M. P. C., & Bosker, R. J. (2007). The influence of personal networks and social support on study attainment of students in university education. Higher Education, 55, 553–573. https://doi.org/10.1007/s1073 4 007 9084 4.

[41] Hare Duke, L. (2017). The importance of social ties in mental health. Mental Health and Social Inclusion, 21, 264–270. https: // doi.org/10.1108/MHSI 06 2017 0023.

Downloads

Published

21-08-2026

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Cao, L. (2026). How do Personality Traits Affect the Achievement Motivation of High School Students Taking Sports-related Exams. Academic Journal of Education, 2(2), 50-57. https://doi.org/10.54097/s6zavx37