A Preliminary Study on the Relationship Between Athletes' Ability to Self-Regulate and World Ranking

This study was designed to explore the relationship between elite athletes' self-regulation ability and their ranking at the world level using psychophysiological stress assessment profiling. Fifteen elite level athletes' psychophysiological stress response patterns were recorded during a nine-stage stress assessment. Respiration rate, heart rate, heart rate variability, skin conductance, peripheral body temperature, and electromyograph (trapezius and frontalis) were monitored. There was a significant correlation between elite athletes' overall self-regulation ability and their ranking at the world level, meaning that the better the overall self-regulation ability of the athlete, the better the world ranking. In addition, a multiple regression analysis indicated that self-regulation accounted for 76% of the variance in world ranking. Our results suggest the existence of a relationship between elite athletes' overall self-regulation ability and their ranking at the world level. Therefore, the results of this study have important implications for training of optimal psychophysiological self-regulation in athletes.