The relationship between sport competition rumination and sport-specific achievement motivation levels among professional athletes in Turkey

Rumination is a cognitive process characterized by the development of repetitive and difficult-to-control thoughts regarding negative experiences. The aim of this study is to examine the cross-sectional association between sports competition rumination and sport-specific achievement motivation levels among professional athletes actively competing in team sports in Turkey, and to investigate whether these levels differ according to gender, age, sport discipline and sports experience. A total of 657 professional athletes (289 women, 368 men) with a mean age of 21.88 ± 5.53 years participated in the study. Data collection tools included a demographic information form, the “Sports Competition Rumination Scale,” and the “Sport-Specific Achievement Motivation Scale.” Data analysis involved the Independent Samples t-test for pairwise comparisons, ANOVA for multi-group comparisons, and the Tukey post-hoc test. Relationships between the scales were assessed using Pearson correlation analysis, while the statistical association between rumination and achievement motivation was evaluated using regression analysis. It was determined that levels of sports competition rumination showed significant differences according to the variables of gender, age, sport discipline, and years of participation in sports. Significant differences in sport-specific achievement motivation levels were also identified based on age and sport discipline. Correlation analysis results indicated a positive and low-level significant relationship between sports competition rumination and sport-specific achievement motivation ( r = 0.105; p < 0.01). According to the results of the regression analysis, it was determined that sports competition rumination shows a low-level and positive association with achievement motivation ( R ² = 0.011; p < 0.01). The research findings reveal a low-level yet significant positive relationship between sports competition rumination and sport-specific achievement motivation. This result suggests that athletes’ post-competition cognitive processes may have a limited but significant relationship with their success orientations.