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Religion as a Function of Self-reported Discrete Emotions Among Elite Student-Athletes Before Competition

Received: 19 July 2021     Accepted: 28 July 2021     Published: 12 August 2021
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Abstract

Issues about religion through religious experiences have long been connected with individuals’ positive functioning, and subjective well-being, including emotional expressivity. Despite religion being proven to be central towards the wellbeing and emotional labelling of many individuals in general psychology, it is surprising that limited attention has been given to the linkages between these constructs among performers within sport psychology literature. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the role of religion in the expression of self-reported discrete emotions (anger, anxiety, dejection, excitement, happiness) of elite student-athletes. The descriptive cross sectional survey design was used to conveniently select a sample of three hundred (N = 300) student athletes who filled the Sport Emotion Questionnaire during the 2018 West Africa University Games (WAUG) in Nigeria. A multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) after controlling for age revealed significant main effect for religion on only anger, anxiety, and dejection. A pairwise analysis revealed that student athletes of other religious affiliations (Hinduism, Buddhism and African Traditional Religion) reported being more anxious than their Muslim and Christian counterparts. A similar trend was reported for dejection. Additionally, Christian student athletes reported the least value on anger, followed by Muslims, with athletes from other religions reporting the highest mean value. Findings provide useful information that may help coaches, sport psychologists and other personnel better manage challenging working environment of athletes whose identities are grounded in religious activities. Working with athletes with different religious orientations call for cultural awareness built on understanding diverse religious and/ or spiritual practices, including cultural skills (e.g., cultural reflexivity, culturally informed strategies) that incorporate content related to religious diversity.

Published in International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences (Volume 6, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijpbs.20210604.12
Page(s) 58-65
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Anger, Anxiety, Buddhists, Christians, Dejection, Emotions, Muslims, Religion

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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Medina Srem-Sai, James Boadu Frimpong, Richard Samuel Kwadwo Abieraba, Richmond Stephen Sorkpor, John Elvis Hagan Junior, et al. (2021). Religion as a Function of Self-reported Discrete Emotions Among Elite Student-Athletes Before Competition. International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences, 6(4), 58-65. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijpbs.20210604.12

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    ACS Style

    Medina Srem-Sai; James Boadu Frimpong; Richard Samuel Kwadwo Abieraba; Richmond Stephen Sorkpor; John Elvis Hagan Junior, et al. Religion as a Function of Self-reported Discrete Emotions Among Elite Student-Athletes Before Competition. Int. J. Psychol. Brain Sci. 2021, 6(4), 58-65. doi: 10.11648/j.ijpbs.20210604.12

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    AMA Style

    Medina Srem-Sai, James Boadu Frimpong, Richard Samuel Kwadwo Abieraba, Richmond Stephen Sorkpor, John Elvis Hagan Junior, et al. Religion as a Function of Self-reported Discrete Emotions Among Elite Student-Athletes Before Competition. Int J Psychol Brain Sci. 2021;6(4):58-65. doi: 10.11648/j.ijpbs.20210604.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijpbs.20210604.12,
      author = {Medina Srem-Sai and James Boadu Frimpong and Richard Samuel Kwadwo Abieraba and Richmond Stephen Sorkpor and John Elvis Hagan Junior and Thomas Schack},
      title = {Religion as a Function of Self-reported Discrete Emotions Among Elite Student-Athletes Before Competition},
      journal = {International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences},
      volume = {6},
      number = {4},
      pages = {58-65},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijpbs.20210604.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijpbs.20210604.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijpbs.20210604.12},
      abstract = {Issues about religion through religious experiences have long been connected with individuals’ positive functioning, and subjective well-being, including emotional expressivity. Despite religion being proven to be central towards the wellbeing and emotional labelling of many individuals in general psychology, it is surprising that limited attention has been given to the linkages between these constructs among performers within sport psychology literature. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the role of religion in the expression of self-reported discrete emotions (anger, anxiety, dejection, excitement, happiness) of elite student-athletes. The descriptive cross sectional survey design was used to conveniently select a sample of three hundred (N = 300) student athletes who filled the Sport Emotion Questionnaire during the 2018 West Africa University Games (WAUG) in Nigeria. A multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) after controlling for age revealed significant main effect for religion on only anger, anxiety, and dejection. A pairwise analysis revealed that student athletes of other religious affiliations (Hinduism, Buddhism and African Traditional Religion) reported being more anxious than their Muslim and Christian counterparts. A similar trend was reported for dejection. Additionally, Christian student athletes reported the least value on anger, followed by Muslims, with athletes from other religions reporting the highest mean value. Findings provide useful information that may help coaches, sport psychologists and other personnel better manage challenging working environment of athletes whose identities are grounded in religious activities. Working with athletes with different religious orientations call for cultural awareness built on understanding diverse religious and/ or spiritual practices, including cultural skills (e.g., cultural reflexivity, culturally informed strategies) that incorporate content related to religious diversity.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Religion as a Function of Self-reported Discrete Emotions Among Elite Student-Athletes Before Competition
    AU  - Medina Srem-Sai
    AU  - James Boadu Frimpong
    AU  - Richard Samuel Kwadwo Abieraba
    AU  - Richmond Stephen Sorkpor
    AU  - John Elvis Hagan Junior
    AU  - Thomas Schack
    Y1  - 2021/08/12
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijpbs.20210604.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijpbs.20210604.12
    T2  - International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences
    JF  - International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences
    JO  - International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences
    SP  - 58
    EP  - 65
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2575-1573
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijpbs.20210604.12
    AB  - Issues about religion through religious experiences have long been connected with individuals’ positive functioning, and subjective well-being, including emotional expressivity. Despite religion being proven to be central towards the wellbeing and emotional labelling of many individuals in general psychology, it is surprising that limited attention has been given to the linkages between these constructs among performers within sport psychology literature. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the role of religion in the expression of self-reported discrete emotions (anger, anxiety, dejection, excitement, happiness) of elite student-athletes. The descriptive cross sectional survey design was used to conveniently select a sample of three hundred (N = 300) student athletes who filled the Sport Emotion Questionnaire during the 2018 West Africa University Games (WAUG) in Nigeria. A multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) after controlling for age revealed significant main effect for religion on only anger, anxiety, and dejection. A pairwise analysis revealed that student athletes of other religious affiliations (Hinduism, Buddhism and African Traditional Religion) reported being more anxious than their Muslim and Christian counterparts. A similar trend was reported for dejection. Additionally, Christian student athletes reported the least value on anger, followed by Muslims, with athletes from other religions reporting the highest mean value. Findings provide useful information that may help coaches, sport psychologists and other personnel better manage challenging working environment of athletes whose identities are grounded in religious activities. Working with athletes with different religious orientations call for cultural awareness built on understanding diverse religious and/ or spiritual practices, including cultural skills (e.g., cultural reflexivity, culturally informed strategies) that incorporate content related to religious diversity.
    VL  - 6
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    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Sports, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana

  • Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana

  • Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Sports, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana

  • Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Sports, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana

  • Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana

  • Neurocognition and Action-Biomechanics-Research Group, Faculty of Psychology and Sports Science, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany

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