Sport motivation is associated with lower aggression via emotional intelligence and self-control: a serial mediation study in undergraduates

Background Whether sport engagement is associated with lower aggression remains contested. Less is known about how sport motivation, that is, reasons for engaging in sport, relates to aggression via emotion- and self-regulatory resources. These psychological pathways are rarely examined within a unified framework. Methods In a cross-sectional survey, 485 students (18–25 years) from a public university completed validated Chinese versions of the Sport Motivation Scale II, the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale, the Self-Control Scale, and the Brief Aggression Questionnaire. Mediation was tested using Hayes’ PROCESS (Model 6; serial mediation with EI → SC) with percentile bootstrapping (5,000 resamples), controlling for sex and age. Results Sport motivation was negatively associated with aggressive behavior (total effect: B = −0.267, 95% CI [−0.342, −0.193]; β = −0.303). When emotional intelligence and self-control were included, the direct association remained significant ( B = −0.115, 95% CI [−0.188, −0.042]; β = −0.131). Indirect effects were significant via emotional intelligence ( B = −0.068, 95% CI [−0.109, −0.030]), via self-control ( B = −0.038, 95% CI [−0.070, −0.008]), and through emotional intelligence then self-control (serial indirect: B = −0.047, 95% CI [−0.071, −0.028]). Indirect pathways accounted for 56.87% of the total association. Sensitivity analyses using alternative operationalizations of sport motivation (SMS-II subscales and autonomous/controlled indices), EI branches, and self-control facets yielded consistent inferences for the serial indirect effect; the direction reversed for raw-scored amotivation. Conclusion In this undergraduate sample, sport motivation was associated with lower aggression partly via a hypothesized serial indirect association through emotional intelligence and self-control (EI → SC), even after adjusting for sex and age and across alternative operationalizations of sport motivation. Given the cross-sectional self-report design, the findings should be interpreted as associational; longitudinal and experimental studies are needed to test temporal ordering and causal mechanisms.