PERSONALITY-VARIABLES AS ANTECEDENTS OF PRECOMPETITIVE MOOD STATES

Utilizing Martens's Competitive Process Model (1977) as a unifying fra mework, the purpose of the present field investigation was to examine personality variables as mediators of precompetitive mood states. Prio r to the start of the season, competitive shooters (N = 121) completed the Causal Dimension Scale (Russell, 1982), the Sport Orientation Que stionnaire (Gill & Deeter, 1988), the Trait-Sport Confidence Inventory (Vealey, 1986), the Motives to Approach Success and Avoid Failure sub scales of the Competition-Related Motives Scale (Willis, 1982), and th e Sport Competition Anxiety Test (Martens, 1977). Each shooter then co mpleted an abbreviated version of the Profile of Mood States (Grove & Prapavessis, 1992) 15 minutes prior to three important competitions. M ANOVAs and ANOVAs were used to determine if any of the personality var iables exerted a significant influence on the individual mood states s ubscales. Variables that showed a significant relationship to precompe titive mood were than entered into stepwise regression analyses to det ermine their unique and combined impact in predicting precompetitive m ood states. Results revealed significant personality group differences in precompetitive mood for trait-sport confidence, goal-orientation, and attributional style for positive events. These variables accounted for between 3 and 23 percent of the variance (M = 11%) for 6 out of 8 mood state subscales.