Part of The Journey is The End, Anger-Performance Relationship in Athletes
Authors:   , Glover Christopher 
Published: September 2024

This thesis aims to extend and explore the knowledge of the anger-performance relationship among athletes. This thesis adopted a mixed-methods methodological approach, whereby the findings guided each subsequent study and contributed to achieving the thesis aim. Study one explored the antecedents and consequences of anger among high-performance taekwondo athletes as part of a grounded theory methodology. Eleven international taekwondo athletes (M age=33 years, SD= 12.29) with an average time holding a 1st-degree black belt of 12.5 (SD = 6.7) years were interviewed to explore their perceived antecedents and consequences of anger. Inductive content analysis was performed on the interview transcripts and identified six consistent themes of the perceived influence of athletes’ experience with anger during a performance. The athletes perceived each of the six identified themes to influence their experience with anger and affect their performance: antecedents of anger, consequences of anger, emotions around performance, contributors to anger experience, being the example/ no anger, and biological demographic moderators. Anger was said to be subjective, and its influence on the athlete depended on their relationship with environmental stimuli with positive and negative effects on performance. Study two aimed to explore if an athlete’s anger differs because of their sport or gender. One hundred and fifty-six participants from forty-six different team and individual sports comprising male and female athletes participated in the study. This quantitative study comprised participants completing a fifty-seven-item State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 (STAXI-2) concerning them and their sport. The results were split into three categories (state anger, trait anger and anger expression and control).This study’s findings showed differences in reported scores between male and female athletes. Contradicting previous literature, female athletes reported higher levels of state anger than males, indicating a higher frequency of temporarily experiencing anger. This study’s findings also reported that non-contact sports athletes reported higher levels of state anger than contact sports athletes. Study two demonstrated that not all athletes fit the presumptive stereotypes of existing literature and that athletes’ experience with anger can differ depending on sport and gender. Study three aimed to explore how anger influenced the performance outcome of contact and non-contact sports while also observing the influence of gender. Ninety athletes from a wide range of sports took part in this study (M age = 20.61, SD = 2.68),males (n=47) and females (n=43). The athletes were required to complete a STAXI-2before and then a modified STAXI-2 after their performance. Confirmatory factor analysis methods were used to assess the relationship between anger and the performance outcome to investigate the latent constructs. Statistical analysis (i.e., MANOVA and regressions) highlighted that four variables were statistically significant in their influence on the performance result: High levels of state and trait anger, as well as anger expression (in and out), were shown to influence performance results negatively. The findings from this study suggest that if anger aligns with the athletes’ sport, it could serve a beneficial purpose, and gender was found not to influence performance results. The present thesis has explored the relationship between anger and sporting performance. The discussion chapter consolidated and dissected the findings from all studies to better understand how anger influences athletes during a performance. Following the three exploratory studies, anger should not be considered a negative influencing emotion to the performance. Anger should be examined and utilised judiciously to enhance an athlete’s performance, despite not being advantageous to all athletes. This thesis has shed light on the causes of anger in athletes and its effects and potential effects on performance. This thesis has added something unique to our understanding and knowledge of anger and performance.