Owing to the competition and uncertainty of the results based on the nature of sports activities, reasons such as the desire to realize the expected and the pressure of the fans can create a perception of threat appraisal in the athletes [3, 11, 104]. This situation is of greater importance in terms of football. Because football is the number one sports branch in the world in terms of both the number of players and the largest number of spectators [105]. In addition to these situations, it can be said that the commercialization of football in the world has increased the pressure especially on elite football players [13, 106]. Because it can be said that the intensity of the perception of performing more, and winning is higher in elite athletes. With this study, we contribute to the sports psychology literature by revealing the relationships between the threat perception and negative emotions of elite football players. On the other hand, we offer solutions to the literature for sports managers by highlighting the mindfulness antidote on how to manage the negative emotions of athletes who are under threat appraisal.
According to the results of our research, we found that threat appraisal has a significant effect on negative emotions. According to this result, it may be that elite football players who consider the situation they are in as a threat may experience emotional states such as anxiety, dejection, and anger. Skinner and Brewer (2004) found that the anxiety state of the athletes being in threat appraisal before the competition increased[23]. Similarly, for both team athletes and individual athletes, it was determined that the anxiety states of the athletes and the threat appraisal increased at the same time [50]. In some studies, it has been stated that the feeling of anxiety can also occur because of the challenge appraisal [32, 107]. Cerin (2003) and Izard (1991) stated that the reason for this is related to the fact that anxiety is a complex emotion that includes both approach and avoidance tendencies [108, 109]. Regarding emotions of elite football players for the risk of injury, environmental pressures, and loss of image in case of losing the match, pressure and anxiety may cause threat appraisal, and this may lead to increase in anxiety.
In addition, different studies have been conducted on the relationship between the threat state and cognitive anxiety. Moore et al.'s (2012) study on golf players stated that threat appraisal is more related to cognitive anxiety than somatic anxiety [110]. Quested et al.'s (2011) study on dancers also stated that dancers feeling under threat appraisal are significantly associated with both somatic and cognitive anxiety states[111]. Similarly, Chadha et al.'s (2019) study on golf players reported that both cognitive and somatic anxiety states were significantly associated with threat appraisal [22]. On the other hand, in many studies, it has been concluded that different negative emotions such as anger may occur as a result of threat appraisal [22, 108, 112]. As a result, in a professional branch such as football, where winning and losing are the determining factors, football players who evaluate threat cause emotional states such as anger and dejection.
In our study, we reached the conclusion that the negative emotions of elite athletes with increased mindfulness perception decreased (Table 2.). In meta-analysis studies, it was stated that mindfulness regulates and suppresses negative emotions [64, 69, 113]. However, similar results were found in different studies. Dehghani et al. (2018), in their experimental research on basketball players, stated that mindfulness significantly reduces the anxiety level of basketball players [114]. In the studies of Oguntuase and Sun (2022) on elite football players, it has been concluded that with mindfulness, players can cope with problems more easily and regulate their emotions by focusing on the moment without judging the distractions [52]. Therefore, our findings indicate similarity with different studies. This situation is of great importance, especially for elite football players, in terms of helping to dampen negative emotions that may occur.
With the model we put forward in our research, we aimed to reveal the moderator role of mindfulness in the relationship between threat appraisal and negative emotions. In our current study, we found that the increase in threat evaluation in elite football players caused an increase above negative emotions. But the most important thing is that we found that mindfulness made the relationship between these two variables meaningless (Fig. 2). We found that the increase in mindfulness decreased the relationship between the two variables. Therefore, it may be asserted that the increase in mindfulness dampens the stress assessment in the athlete and prevents the emergence of negative emotions. Tingaz et al. (2022) in their study, high mindfulness rates in athletes showed a decrease in anxiety, stress and depression, and it was determined that this had a positive effect on the performance of the athletes [53]. In systematic reviews, it was stated that mindfulness reduces and moderate negative emotions and stress levels [69, 113]. In general, the research model we put forward and the results of previous studies are parallel to each other.
Practical implications
This part of our study presents a series of practical implications for the regulation of pre-match stress and mood in elite football players. The first inference is that elite football players who are in threat appraisal can minimize this situation with mindfulness. With mindfulness, elite athletes, especially those who will compete under stress and under great pressure, can cope with distractions and focus on the challenge. The basic philosophy of mindfulness is not to ignore pressure and distractions like other approaches, but to accept them as they are and to overcome them [56, 60, 62]. Hence, in a possible stress situation, mindfulness may minimize the threat appraisal situation and will make elite football players feel more comfortable before the match.
Negative emotions are likely to occur in elite football players who are in threat appraisal before an important contest. In this case, the arised negative emotions may be minimized and even positive emotions are possible to be created [12, 115]. In this context, mindfulness may hold a guiding paradigm in dealing with threat appraisal and emotional states. With mindfulness, awareness of the current situation is achieved by focusing on the present without focusing on the past or the future. This awareness enables athletes to tolerate anxiety and other negative moods.
Positive results have been obtained in mindfulness therapies for athletes in different branches [62, p. 180]. In this context, therapies such as Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) that enable athletes to cope with threat assessment and emotional stabilization by improving their cognitive skills and awareness can be applied on elite football players [29, 116, 117] .
Limitations and directions for future research
Although the results of our study with the structural equation modeling based on different theories confirm the asserted model, there are some limitations that should be considered. The proposed model is based on causal relationships. If the moderator is the variable, although it has an important role between the input and the output variable, it is possible that there are different variables between the two variables. In addition, this study is a cross-sectional study, and more reliable results can be obtained by repeating it with longitudinal studies. In addition, in future studies, a wider structural model can be established by adding the performance of the athletes as the output variable. However, when the increase in the number of questions to be asked in the questionnaires was added in addition to the difficulties experienced in reaching elite football players, we preferred to obtain more reliable results with fewer variables in order not to add more variables and undermine the reliability of the research. In addition, studies on different anxiety states have been conducted in the literature (These situations were discussed in the discussion section). In future studies, studies on different types of anxiety can be repeated in different sports branches.