Resilience as a Predictor of Motivation and Anxiety in the Sport Performance of Amateur Athletes

This study aimed to investigate resilience as a psychological variable to predict motivation and anxiety concerning the performance of amateur beach tennis athletes. A total of 129 athletes of both sexes participated. To measure resilience, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10 for Brazil was used; to assess motivation for exercising, the Exercise Motivation Inventory was adopted, while state anxiety levels were assessed using the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2. For statistical analyses, Pearson’s correlation, linear regression, and a t-test were carried out. The main correlations were found between resilience and self-confidence, physical condition and disease prevention, physical appearance and weight control, enjoyment and stress control, competition and enjoyment, social recognition and physical appearance, and affiliation and enjoyment. It is concluded that resilience showed power to predict motivation in terms of increasing self-confidence and enjoyment; on the other hand, it led to decreased somatic anxiety among beach tennis athletes.