The Role of Psychological Inflexibility and Emotion Dysregulation in Predicting Intensity of Anger in Competitive Athletes

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of psychological inflexibility and emotion dysregulation in predicting intensity of anger in competitive athletes.

This was a descriptive and correlational research. The statistical population of this study consisted of all competitive athletes (all athletes who participated in any level of competitive sport, either individual or collective) in city of Ardebil in 2019. From a total of participants, 312 were selected through cluster sampling to be included in the study. To collect data, the Clinical Anger Scale (Snell et al , 1995), Comprehensive assessment of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (Comp ACT) Scale (Francis et al, 2016) and Emotion Dysregulation Scale (Gratz, & Roemer, 2004) were used. Data analysis was done through Pearson correlation and Multiple Linear regression formula.

The results of multiple regression analysis also showed that 38% of variance of intensity of anger is explained by components of psychological inflexibility and emotion dysregulation variables. There was also a significant positive relationship between psychological inflexibility and emotion dysregulation with intensity of anger (P<0/05).

Based on the findings, it can probably be said that athletes who are not capable of emotion regulation and are not capable of flexible behaviors in competitive situations, experience more anger.