Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine athletes’ psychological competition experiences. Methods For this study, 64 student athletes, attending universities located in Seoul and Chungcheongbuk-do, participated in the study by completing an unconstructed questionnaire. The data were analysed through content analysis method. Results As a result, 15 themes, such as morale loss, comparable performance levels, opponent irritation were collected and the themes were classified into three categories including objectives of psychological competition, requirements of psychological competition, and psychological battle. In match situations, athletes attempt to psychologically compete in order to achieve objectives such as opponent’s morale loss, induce carelessness, trigger agitation and anger, dispersion of attention, and distraction. Psychological competition among rivals is valid when the requirements, such as comparable performance levels, sensitivity to match situations, strong tenacity and confidence, understanding of opponent and oneself, mutual checks and balances, are met. Athletes attack and defend to win the psychological competition by utilizing opponents irritation, information distortion, unexpected behaviors, predicting and coping, pulling a poker face, exclusion of opponents, and self-focusing. Conclusion This study created a theoretical foundation for a profound understanding of athletes’ psychological competition, which is often found in sport fields. Furthermore, this study is meaningful in that it has raised a chance of interest concerning psychological interaction between players in match situations.
