Cognitive motivational relational theory suggests that cognitive appraisals or core relational themes (a composite summary of appraisal components) represent the proximal determinants of athletes` emotions. Semistructured interviews with 12 current international athletes (1 woman and 11 men) ages 19 to 37 years (M age = 27 years, SD = 6.03), representing a range of sports (badminton, golf, rugby union, athletics, archery, sailing, and snooker) explored the association between athletes` appraisals and emotions. Concurrent inductive and deductive content analyses suggested that primary and secondary appraisal components (goal relevance, goal congruence, ego-involvement, blame/credit, coping potential, future expectations) were associated with a range of emotions: anger, anxiety, guilt, happiness, pride, relief, sadness, and shame. A hierarchical content analysis provided some support for Lazarus` (1991) core relational themes. Limitations and applications of this study are discussed.
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