Religion as a function of self-reported discrete emotions among elite student-athletes before competition

Issues about religion through religious experiences have long been connected with individuals’ positive functioning, and subjective well-being, including emotional expressivity. Despite religion being proven to be central towards the wellbeing and emotional labelling of many individuals in general psychology, it is surprising that limited attention has been given to the linkages between these constructs among performers within sport psychology literature. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the role of religion in the expression of self-reported discrete emotions (anger, anxiety, dejection, excitement, happiness) of elite student-athletes. The descriptive cross sectional survey design was used to conveniently select a sample of three hundred (N = 300) student athletes who filled the Sport Emotion Questionnaire during the 2018 West Africa University Games (WAUG) in Nigeria. A multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) after controlling for age revealed significant main effect for religion on only anger, anxiety, and dejection. A pairwise analysis revealed that student athletes of other religious affiliations (Hinduism, Buddhism and African Traditional Religion) reported being more anxious than their Muslim and Christian counterparts. A similar trend was reported for dejection. Additionally, Christian student athletes reported the least value on anger, followed by Muslims, with athletes from other religions reporting the highest mean value. Findings provide useful information that may help coaches, sport psychologists and other personnel better manage challenging working environment of athletes whose identities are grounded in religious activities. Working with athletes with different religious orientations call for cultural awareness built on understanding diverse religious and/ or spiritual practices, including cultural skills (e.g., cultural reflexivity, culturally informed strategies) that incorporate content related to religious diversity.