Sport Passion, Sports-Themed Video Gaming Motivation, and Perceived Task Performance Among Athletes Who Play Sport-Congruent Video Games: A Cross-Sectional Indirect-Association Model

Abstract

This cross-sectional study examined the contemporaneous associations among sport passion, sports-themed video gaming motivation, and perceived sport-role task performance. The sample comprised 624 licensed athletes in Türkiye who reported participating in a physical sport and playing a sports video game that matched that sport. Participants completed the Sport Passion Scale, the Sports Video Game Motivation Scale, and a self-report adaptation of the Task Performance Scale for the sport context. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the specified measurement structure, and structural equation modeling with 5000 bias-corrected bootstrap resamples was used to estimate simultaneous and indirect associations. Sport passion was positively associated with sports-themed video gaming motivation (β = 0.58) and perceived sport-role task performance (β = 0.29), while gaming motivation was positively associated with perceived sport-role task performance (β = 0.35). The standardized indirect association was 0.20; the corresponding unstandardized estimate was B = 0.22, bias-corrected 95% CI [0.15, 0.30]. Because all variables were self-reported in one survey session, the model describes associations and does not establish temporal ordering, causal mediation, transfer from gaming to sport, or improvement in objective athletic performance.