Achievement goals and emotions in athletes: The mediating role of challenge and threat appraisals

Although the relationships between achievement goals and discrete emotions have been examined in a few studies, the process through which these relationships occur has received little attention. The present study investigated
whether task and ego achievement goals were related to excitement, hope, and anxiety andwhether these relationships were mediated by challenge and threat appraisals. We also examined whether the two achievement goals interact to
predict emotions. Undergraduate students (N = 344) completed a multi-section questionnaire assessing achievement goals, challenge and threat appraisals, perceived competence, hope, excitement, concentration disruption, worry, and
somatic anxiety before taking part in a teamsport trial. Results showed that task goal was positively related to excitement and hope, and these relationships were mediated by challenge appraisal. In addition, threat appraisal mediated the relationship between task goal and concentration disruption. Ego goal
was indirectly related to excitement through challenge appraisal. Finally, ego goal positively predicted concentration disruption at low but not high levels of task goal. Our findings suggest that achievement goals may influence emotions
through cognitive appraisals and the interaction between task and ego goals needs to be considered in future research.