The satisfaction of basic psychological needs mediates the relation between perfectionism and sport performance: a longitudinal cross-national investigation.

Using a cross-national approach, we focused on sport perfectionism among university athletes from two Western countries (i.e., Italy and Spain). We examined a guiding theoretical model in which sport perfectionism influenced athletes' experience of their own performance through the intervening effects of their basic psychological needs' satisfaction (BPN). We collected data on the short version of the "Multidimensional Inventory of Perfectionism in Sport" (MIPS) from athletes in both countries and first examined the country measurement invariance of the instrument. We then conducted a second study on a subsample of athletes from study 1 to examine the statistical tenets and the country invariance of the guiding theoretical model. Overall, we found support to the guiding hypotheses. Study 1 findings showed that the MIPS had good psychometric properties and was invariant across countries (i.e., MIPS items had similar meaning among Italian and Spanish athletes). Study 2 findings overall showed support across countries for the guiding model. Athletes with relatively high levels of perfectionistic strivings, later showed greater levels of BPN satisfaction and this, in turn, positively influenced their personal experience of performance. On the contrary, athletes with relatively high levels of perfectionistic concerns, later showed lower levels of BPN satisfaction and this, in turn, negatively influenced their personal experience of performance. This investigation provides initial cross-national evidence for possible mediation mechanisms that may underpin the relations between perfectionism and performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]