Conference Agenda

Sport persistence, social support, and perfectionist climate are central psychological and environmental factors shaping athletes’ performance, mental health, and long-term engagement in sport. Research consistently shows that persistence in sport is not merely a function of individual motivation or talent but rather emerges from the dynamic interaction between athletes and their social environments. Understanding how supportive relationships and performance-related expectations operate together is therefore essential for developing effective sport psychology interventions. Sport persistence refers to an athlete’s ability to cope with difficulties, maintain motivation, and continue participation despite setbacks. It is strongly influenced by psychological resources such as resilience, self-regulation, and perceived support. Among these, social support plays a particularly protective role by reducing burnout and psychological exhaustion while enhancing self-esteem and well-being.

Social support is broadly defined as the perception that one is cared for, valued, and able to rely on others for emotional, informational, or instrumental assistance. Social support is a multidimensional construct derived from several sources within an athlete’s immediate environment. Empirical findings demonstrate that positive reinforcement from teammates, coaches, family members, and friends is especially critical during periods of underperformance or injury, when athletes are more vulnerable psychologically. In contrast, negative feedback and excessive criticism can undermine confidence and further impair performance.

Alongside social support, the perfectionist climate represents a powerful environmental influence in sport. A perfectionist climate is characterized by high expectations, strong emphasis on mistake avoidance, conditional approval, and limited psychological safety. This climate has a dual nature: while it may be perceived as motivating and performance-enhancing under certain conditions, its maladaptive forms are associated with heightened anxiety, stress, burnout, and depressive symptoms. Such environments are particularly prevalent in competitive sport settings, where unrealistic standards and fear of failure are often normalized. Female athletes, especially in aesthetic sports and dance, are more frequently exposed to body-image-related expectations, increasing psychological risk. At the recreational level, perfectionist climates tend to reduce enjoyment and motivation, whereas at the elite level they are linked to burnout and emotional exhaustion. Differences also emerge across sport types, with team sports often characterized by coach-driven expectations and sanctions, and individual sports by heightened personal responsibility and anxiety.

From a socio-ecological and motivational perspective, sport persistence results from the interaction between social support, perceived expectations, and athletes’ psychological interpretations of their environments. Supportive relationships are more likely to foster adaptive striving and realistic goal-setting, whereas controlling or critical environments promote maladaptive perfectionism and anxiety. Gender differences in sport persistence are likewise embedded in socialisation processes and differential expectations placed on male and female athletes. Prior research suggests that boys and girls experience and interpret social support and performance-related expectations differently, which may indirectly influence persistence through the perceived perfectionist climate. Accordingly, it is theoretically plausible that social support and perfectionist climate function not only as direct predictors of sport persistence but also as mediating mechanisms through which gender-related differences and social contexts exert their effects. Based on this, we have formulated the following hypotheses in our research:

• H1: Gender has a significant influence on the level of sport persistence, and this effect is partly mediated by perceived social support, reflecting gender-specific socialisation patterns in sport.
• H2: Gender has a significant influence on does not significantly influence the level of sport persistence, which is partly mediated by the perfectionist climate.
• H3: Perfectionist climate mediates the role of social support in the development of sport persistence.

Sustained engagement in sport during adolescence and early adulthood is a key determinant of physical health, psychological well-being, and long-term lifestyle patterns. While sport motivation and commitment have been extensively examined, the construct of sport persistence, defined as the ability to maintain effective, goal-directed engagement in sport over time, remains underexplored in international research (Berki et al., 2020; Kovács & Szakál, 2024). Existing studies tend to isolate motivational or social factors, rather than examining their combined and interacting influence. The present research addresses this gap by investigating how sport orientation and relational embeddedness jointly shape sport persistence among secondary and tertiary students.

The theoretical framework integrates motivational psychology with socio-ecological perspectives. From a motivational standpoint, sport orientation is conceptualised as a multidimensional construct encompassing goal orientation, competitiveness, and win orientation (Albert et al., 2021). These dimensions represent qualitatively different motivational drivers: long-term self-referenced development, engagement with competitive challenges, and outcome-focused victory striving. Drawing on achievement goal theory, the study assumes that not all motivational orientations contribute equally to sustained persistence (Dunn & Elliott, 2008; Tóth et al., 2024).

We must emphasise that sport persistence is a complex phenomenon that, according to the ecological model, is influenced by several interacting interpersonal and environmental factors (Bauman et al., 2012). From the perspective of the micro-system in Bronfenbrenner’s and Bauman et al’s socio-ecological framework, the family, peer group and coaches are especially influential. The family is typically the earliest context of socialisation. Although its direct influence may diminish during adolescence and early adulthood, it continues to provide important emotional and practical support throughout life. In childhood and during competitive sport participation, this support can be crucial. Family members also convey norms and attitudes about sport; through their behaviour and expectations, they help shape the athlete’s commitment and work ethic. Research has shown, for example, that young people are more likely to take part in sport if at least one parent has been involved in sport themselves (Kovács, 2022).

Relational embeddedness is operationalised through perceived personal and knowledge-based support from peers and teachers, capturing both emotional and instrumental dimensions of social capital (Rees et al., 2015). This approach aligns with social support theory and research highlighting the buffering and motivational functions of interpersonal relationships in sport (Shang & Yang, 2021).

The primary objective is to examine how motivational orientations and social support mechanisms explain individual differences in sport persistence, and whether they mediate the effects of sociodemographic and sport-specific factors. Specifically, the study addresses the following research questions:

1. How is sport persistence related to the dimensions of sport orientation (goal, competition, and win orientation) and relational embeddedness?
2. Which sociodemographic (e.g., gender, age, educational level, family background) and sport-specific factors (e.g., participation level, club membership) predict sport persistence?
3. To what extent do sport orientation and relational embeddedness mediate these relationships?

Based on prior empirical and theoretical work, the study hypothesises that goal orientation and competitiveness are central predictors of persistence, whereas win orientation alone plays a limited role. Furthermore, it is expected that peer-based personal support constitutes a critical social pathway sustaining long-term engagement in sport. Sociodemographic influences are assumed to operate largely indirectly, through motivational and relational mechanisms rather than direct effects.

By integrating psychological and social dimensions within a mediation framework, the research advances a more nuanced understanding of sport persistence. It positions persistence not merely as behavioural continuity, but as a higher-order indicator of adaptive athletic functioning shaped by internal goal structures and supportive social environments.

Long-term engagement in sport is a complex phenomenon influenced by physical, social, and psychological factors. While training conditions and physical abilities are essential, a growing body of research highlights the central role of psychological characteristics in sustaining athletes’ motivation, commitment, and well-being over time (Kovács & Szakál, 2024a; Zhang et al., 2022). Among these characteristics, sport persistence, grit, and rumination have emerged as particularly relevant constructs; however, their joint functioning remains insufficiently understood.

Sport persistence refers to the ability to remain engaged in sport activities over an extended period, even in the presence of setbacks, failures, or competing life demands (Kovács & Szakál, 2025). Previous studies demonstrate that persistence is shaped by individual-level variables (e.g., motivation, coping skills), social context (e.g., team climate, family background), and structural conditions such as club membership or competitive level (Schröder & Knisel, 2024; Stefansen et al., 2018). Despite this, persistence cannot be reduced to behavioural frequency or effort alone; instead, it reflects a dynamic psychological process embedded in motivation regulation and cognitive-emotional processing.

Within this framework, grit has been proposed as a key motivational resource supporting long-term goal pursuit. Grit is defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals and consists of two distinct dimensions: perseverance of effort and consistency of interest (Duckworth et al., 2007; Von Culin et al., 2014). Research in sport contexts suggests that while perseverance of effort supports sustained performance and coping with physical demands, consistency of interest may be more strongly associated with career longevity and continued participation (Tedesqui & Young, 2017). Recent findings further indicate that these two dimensions do not operate uniformly and may have different psychological consequences depending on contextual and cognitive factors (Mosewich et al., 2021).

One such cognitive factor is rumination, defined as repetitive thinking about one’s emotions, problems, or experiences (Nolen-Hoeksema et al., 2008). Importantly, rumination is a multidimensional construct. Brooding rumination is characterised by passive self-focus and negative comparison, and is generally associated with maladaptive outcomes such as stress, burnout, and reduced well-being. In contrast, reflective rumination involves deliberate self-examination aimed at understanding experiences and may facilitate learning and adaptive coping (Treynor et al., 2003; Eikey et al., 2021). In sport psychology, rumination has traditionally been treated as a risk factor (Rice et al., 2016), yet recent studies suggest that reflective forms may play a constructive role in athlete development, particularly when supported by structured environments and effective coping strategies (Karafil & Pehlivan, 2025).

The present study is theoretically grounded in an integrative model combining motivational theories of persistence, the dual-component model of grit, and cognitive models of rumination. From this perspective, long-term sport persistence is not merely the result of effortful striving but emerges from the interaction between sustained interest and adaptive cognitive processing of challenges. Grit provides motivational stability, while rumination shapes how athletes interpret setbacks, regulate emotions, and integrate experiences into their self-concept (Duckworth et al., 2016).

The primary objective of the study was to explore the interrelationships among sport persistence, grit, and rumination in adolescent and young adult athletes. Specifically, the study aimed (1) to examine the associations between sport persistence, the two dimensions of grit, and the two forms of rumination; (2) to test the mediating role of brooding and reflective rumination in the relationship between grit and sport persistence; and (3) to identify distinct psychological athlete profiles based on these variables using a person-centred approach. By addressing these aims, the study seeks to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of psychological mechanisms underlying sustained sport participation and to inform targeted coaching and sport psychology interventions.