1 Introduction
Many individuals aspire to achieve excellence in all areas of life, and it is observed that this goal is of particular importance in the field of sports. Especially in highly competitive sport disciplines, athletes aim to rank first in their branches, to win medals, to break records and, most importantly, to be recognized. In order to achieve these aspirations, athletes strive to be perfect with the least amount of mistakes.
Consider specifying what “game of the age” means or provide a reference to support this claim. It would be helpful to clarify whether this phrase refers to football’s historical significance, current popularity, or another aspect. In addition to these skills, athletes must possess physical attributes such as strength, speed, balance, and endurance (Alexe et al., 2024; Samavati Sharif et al., 2024) as well as psychological characteristics including motivation, anxiety, self-confidence, personality, attention, concentration, mental endurance, stress management, and perfectionism (Arısoy and Pepe, 2021; Kalinowski et al., 2020; Watson et al., 2024).
1.1 Excellent performance
Perfectionism is a multifaceted characteristic of an individual’s personality which is defined by the presence of excessively high standards coupled with an overly critical evaluation of oneself (Hosseini et al., 2023). While some dimensions and aspects can be seen as positive, benign and adaptive, others can be considered negative, harmful and maladaptive (Chang, 2003; Enns and Cox, 2002). Perfectionism in football is thought to be related to characteristics such as positional competition and skill levels of football players, it can be said that it is related to the personality traits of the football player according to this definition.
Although athletes are expected to perform perfectly in sports, the occurrence of anxiety in the competitive environment may trigger the inhibition of the performance that athletes want to achieve (Flett and Hewitt, 2005). The positive dimension of perfectionism is associated with setting high standards for performance and exhibiting self-control to achieve these standards. On the other hand, the negative dimension of perfectionism is defined as a trait that leads to performance-related errors, threats and hesitancy in behaviors. In this context, it creates a discrepancy between the individual’s expectations and performance outcomes (Bieling et al., 2004; Hill et al., 2004; Suddarth and Slaney, 2001). It should be noted that the competitive environment that occurs in sports can have positive or negative effects on athletes while driving individuals toward excellence.
These positive or negative effects on athletes can occur on athletes’ challenge and threat emotions on the sport fields.
1.2 Challenge and threat theory
The literature is in approach that athletes respond to competition in two ways: challenge and threat (Martinek et al., 2003; Seery, 2011). This approach was defined by Jones (1995) in this theory that if athletes react positively to stress in competitive environments, this creates a sense of “challenge” and if they react negatively, this creates a sense of “threat.” Challenge and threat are two different psycho-physiological responses to stressors. A model has been developed to explain the reactions of individuals to such situations, and this model aims to clarify whether the individual is faced with stress or whether they consider stress as a threat to themselves (Meijen et al., 2014). While the feeling of challenge and threat is stated as the emotions that arise only in uncertainty and danger situations, the individual does not experience a feeling of challenge or threat in a situation where there is no danger (Suddarth and Slaney, 2001). Considering how different levels of competition (e.g., amateur and professional) affect feelings of challenge and threat of football players, it is obvious that the physiological and psychological responses required for different levels of competition will differ from each other. It is thought that the feelings of challenge and threat created by different competitive environments (e.g., amateur/professional leagues or national/international cup organizations) in football players may affect their positive thinking skills.
1.3 Positive thinking skills
It is known that positive thinking skill is the ability to use the ability to direct our cognitive processes in a positive way.
Conceptually, positive thinking is a way of thinking that does not accept the negatives while accepting that there is something positive that an individual can do in the situations they encounter (İbrahimoğlu, 2024; Willis, 1993). In sports environments, the psychological pressures that athletes are exposed to can negatively affect their performance when they have negative thoughts. However, under these negative conditions, athletes with a positive mindset can overcome negative situations and perform better (Tazegül, 2018).
1.4 Present study
The reason for choosing football in this study is that football has evolved from being just a game into a multi-dimensional phenomenon that has created its own industry and values such as sponsorships, broadcasting rights, cultural impact, and global fan engagement. As a major industry, the pursuit of victory both materially and spiritually is central to football.
To date, various psychosocial factors including perfectionism (Koivula et al., 2002; Teixeira et al., 2024; Xu et al., 2024), challenge and threat (Meijen et al., 2020; Öcal and Göncü, 2023; Jones et al., 2009) and positive thinking skills (Çelik et al., 2020; Tazegül, 2018; Şahinler et al., 2020) were studied in different athlete groups. In our literature review, no study was found that examined the relationship between challenge and threat in the relationship between and perception of excellent performance positive thinking skills and perception of excellent performance or challenge and threat in any athlete group.
Additionally, no study has aimed to determine the mediator role of challenge and threat in the relationship between positive thinking skills and perception of excellent performance. It is anticipated that the results obtained from this study will make a significant contribution to the existing literature.
As a preliminary step toward addressing these knowledge gaps, the objectives of this study were to: (a) examine the effect of positive thinking skills on perception of excellent performance and (b) explore the mediation effect of challenge and threat on the relationship between positive thinking skills and perception of excellent performance in football players.
Challenge and threat emotions of football players in competition are thought to play a very important mediating role for positive thinking skills and perceptions of excellent performance.
The present study aims to examine the mediating role of challenge and threat in the relationship between positive thinking and perceptions of excellent performance of football players competing in the regional amateur league, which is referred to as the semi-professional league. For this purpose, the following hypotheses were tested.
H1: Positive thinking skills effects on perception of excellent performance.
H1a: Challenge and threat has a mediator role on the relationship between positive thinking skills and perception of excellent performance.