Connecting Athletes’ Self-Perceptions and Metaperceptions of Competence: a Structural Equation Modeling Approach

This study explored the relationships between athletes’ competence self-perceptions and metaperceptions. Two hundred and fifty one student-athletes (14.26 ± 1.89 years), members of twenty different teams (basketball, soccer) completed a questionnaire which included the Perception of Success Questionnaire, the Competence subscale of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory, and modified versions of both questionnaires to assess athletes’ metaperceptions. Structural equation modelling analysis revealed that athletes’ task and ego metaperceptions positively predicted task and ego self-perceptions, respectively. Competence metaperceptions were strong predictors of competence self-perceptions, confirming the atypical metaperception formation in outcome-dependent contexts such as sport. Task and ego metaperceptions positively predicted athletes’ competence metaperceptions. How coaches value their athletes’ competence is more influential on what the athletes think of themselves than their own self-perceptions. Athletes’ ego and task metaperceptions influenced their competence metaperceptions (how coaches rate their competence). Therefore, athletes build their competence metaperceptions using all information available from their coaches. Finally, only task-self perfections positively predicted athletes’ competence self-perceptions.