Sport Mental Toughness and Goal Setting as Determinants of Sports Performance Perception among College Student-Athletes

Student-athletes perceived their sports performance poorly. There are declines in perceptions of sports performance, a universal problem among athletes across sports and at all levels of competition. This study examined the role of sport mental toughness and goal setting as fundamental domains in shaping athletes’ sports performance perception. The study was conducted using a diagnostic research design, selecting 117 respondents from three higher education institutions (HEIs) in Davao City through proportionate stratified random sampling. Descriptive statistics, including mean and standard deviation, were used to assess the levels of the variables. Pearson Product-Moment Correlation was applied to determine the relationships among sport mental toughness, goal setting, and sports performance perception. Furthermore, multiple regression analysis was utilised to evaluate the individual and combined effects of the independent variables on sports performance perception. Findings revealed that sport mental toughness (M = 3.45, SD = 0.41), goal setting (M = 3.55, SD = 0.41), and sports performance perception (M = 3.47, SD = 0.66) were all rated at a very high level, indicating highly positive and consistent responses among respondents. Correlation analysis showed that both sport mental toughness (r = 0.710, p < 0.05) and goal setting (r = 0.681, p < 0.05) had statistically significant relationships with sports performance perception. Regression analysis further revealed that sport mental toughness (β = 0.460, p < 0.05) and goal setting (β = 0.307, p < 0.05) significantly influenced sports performance perception. Sport mental toughness emerged as the stronger independent predictor. It was ascertained that the factors combined significantly contribute 53.6% to sports performance perception. Overall, the findings highlight that both sport mental toughness and goal setting play significant roles in shaping student-athletes’ perceptions of their performance, with mental toughness demonstrating a more pronounced individual impact while both variables jointly contribute meaningfully to performance outcomes. Future research may explore the domain of relatedness to see if it explains the remaining 46.4% of unexplained variance in sports performance perception.