Religious Orientation and Athlete’s Psychological Preparation

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between religious orientation and mental skills of athletes. 218 boys (121) and girls (97) students (22.40±1.60 years old) completed Religious Orientation Questionnaire (OS) and The Ottawa Mental Skills Assessment Tool (OMSAT-3), The Validity And Reliability of these questionnaires have been confirmed in Iran. Pearson correlation and multiple regressions were used to analyze the data. The results showed that there is a significant correlation between mental skills and religious orientation. The results of multiple regression analysis tests showed that extrinsic religious orientation could predict goal setting, self-confidence and competition planning (p> 0/05). Moreover, intrinsic religious orientation could predict self-confidence, commitment, fear control, relaxation and activation (p>0.05). However, other subscales of mental skills couldn’t be predicted by religious orientation (p< 0.05). According to the results, there is a significant positive correlation between some subscales of mental skills and religious orientation in athletes. Given the results, it seems athletes who have religious orientation are able to use some mental Skills better and these skills help them to improve their performances in competition.