[01] Maryam Lafata, Department of Psychology, Arsanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Arsanjan, Iran. [02] Ladan Hashemi, Department of Psychology, Arsanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Arsanjan, Iran. [03] Younes Mohammadzadeh, Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, Arsanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Arsanjan, Iran.

This study examined the mediating role of self-esteem in the relationship between perfectionism and competition anxiety. Participants included 246 elite athletes from Fars province. Participants Martinez Competitive Anxiety Inventory and the Excellence Questionnaire by Don and colleagues and completed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Questionnaire. Cronbach's coefficient was used to check the validity of the instrument. The structural equation model was used to evaluate the proposed model, based on which self-esteem perfectionism was used to influence the anxiety of athletic competition. The results showed that elite athletes had a low self-esteem with negative perfection and experienced high competitive anxiety. The findings also indicated that self-esteem plays a mediator role in the relationship between perfectionism and competitive anxiety. The implications and uses of the findings were discussed.

Perfectionism, Competitive Anxiety, Self-Esteem, Elite Athletes

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