The relation between body awareness and track and field athletes’ goal setting

Abstract

Body awareness has been proposed as a major target of mindfulness interventions, though little is known of its association with achievement goals among track and field athletes. We in aimed to determine how body awareness and these achievement goals related among track and field athletes participating in the European Champion Clubs Cup in Mersin. We studied 70 volunteer athletes (38 female and 32 male). Among these 41 were runners, 17 were throwers and 12 were jumpers. Participants completed a Body Awareness Questionnaire and an Achievement Goals Questionnaire for Sport (AGQ-S) prior to competing. There were statistically significant positive correlations between Body Awareness and both Mastery Avoidance and Performance Avoidance (r=.350**, r=.350**, p<0.005). This significant correlation may be explained by an increased appreciation for body limitations through body awareness, that, in turn, positively relates to mastery and performance avoidance.