ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1656816
This article is part of the Research TopicDeterminants of Achievement in Top SportView all 28 articles
The Relationship Between Self-Oriented Perfectionism and Athlete Burnout: A Longitudinal Study
Provisionally accepted
- 1Pukyong National University, Busan, Republic of Korea
- 2Shinhan University, Uijeongbu-si, Republic of Korea
- 3Shandong Vocational and Technical University of International Studies, Rizhao, China
- 4Taiyuan Institute of Technology, Taiyuan, China
- 5Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, China
- 6Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
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Athlete burnout is a significant psychological and behavioral issue among athletes. A key personality trait that may serve as an important antecedent to this issue is perfectionism, which is characterized by high standards, self-criticism, heightened sensitivity to mistakes, and relentless striving for achievement. However, existing research on the relationship between self-oriented perfectionism and athlete burnout has produced inconsistent findings. Longitudinal studies investigating the reciprocal relationship between self-oriented perfectionism and athlete burnout at the individual level remain scarce, especially concerning potential underlying mechanisms. Empirical research in this area remains insufficient. The present study employed a longitudinal design and constructed a Random-Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model (RI-CLPM) to examine the relationship between self-oriented perfectionism and athlete burnout from both within-person and interpersonal perspectives, as well as the mediating role of loneliness. From June 2024 to June 2025, a total of 422 athletes (Mage = 19.74, SD = 1.77) completed three waves of assessments. The results indicated that self-oriented perfectionism significantly predicted athlete burnout. Self-oriented perfectionism can indirectly predict athlete burnout through loneliness. These findings provide longitudinal empirical evidence for the interaction between self-oriented perfectionism and athlete burnout and contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying this relationship.
Keywords: Self-oriented perfectionism, Athlete burnout, Loneliness, Random-intercept cross-lagged panel model, longitudinal study
Received: 30 Jun 2025; Accepted: 26 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 FU, Li, SUN, LI, PENG, HONG and PAN. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
YUANTAI FU, harrietteluomahaffybooz0zv@gmail.com
JIANHUA PAN, panjhua@cqu.edu.cn
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