What is the relationship between sports psychology and educational attainment: exploring the moderating and the mediating relationship

Abstract

Decision-makers in most countries are recognizing the importance of sports in education. Sports are important because they help improve a person's performance at both the individual and professional levels. Despite this established importance, the specific explanation for how these psychological factors jointly influence educational attainment among sports students remains insufficiently articulated in existing literature. This study investigates how sports psychology enhances educational attainment through the integration of goal setting, self-motivation, self-esteem, self-autonomy, and self-confidence. A quantitative research design and a purposive sampling technique were used. The study's respondents were KSA-based students who participated in sports. The researcher distributed 350 questionnaires to KSA students. The number of usable questionnaires was 242, with a response rate of 69.14%. The instrument's reliability was greater than 70%. Structural equation modelling in AMOS was used to analyze the data. The results of the study demonstrated the positive effects of goal setting, self-esteem, self-autonomy, and self-confidence on self-motivation. Self-esteem had a significant positive effect on self-motivation ( β  = 0.88, p  ≤ 0.01). Similarly, self-autonomy ( β  = 0.35, p  ≤ 0.01), goal setting ( β  = 0.36, p  ≤ 0.01), and self-confidence ( β  = 0.58, p  ≤ 0.01) had significant positive effects on self-motivation. Self-motivation positively influences educational attainment ( β  = 0.68, p  ≤ 0.01). The measurement model exhibited high reliability because all model fit indices met the necessary standards (CFI = 0.92, RMSEA = 0.02, and CMIN/DF = 1.25). Results also showed a significant mediating role for motivation and a moderating role for self-efficacy. These findings are vital for policy developers and strategists, enabling them to focus on students' psychological motivational traits to improve their academic performance. In this study, a cross-sectional research design was used; future research may include a longitudinal study or a cross-cultural or cross-country analysis.