Abstract
Working with values and values-based behavioral change in psychological interventions for athletes has become more common in sport psychology, but measures adapted for the sport context are needed. A new instrument based on the Bull’s-Eye Values Survey, called Bull’s-Eye for Athletes (BEA), was developed and adapted to assess values and values-based behavior in athletes. BEA consists of four values items, (1) Competition, (2) Training, (3) Preparation and recovery, and (4) Life outside of sport. Athletes identify their values and rate their behavioral commitment for each value item and to what extent they experience obstacles behaving according to their values, both related to their sport and life outside of sport. BEA was completed online by 155 athletes in Sweden competing at junior elite to senior international level. Scale dimensionality, invariance, monotonicity of response categories, and reliability were investigated using Rasch analysis. Convergent and discriminant validity was also investigated through correlation with other scales. Results indicated that BEA worked as a unidimensional scale with satisfactory psychometric properties. Item probability functions were investigated, and response categories were merged to achieve ordered item thresholds. No indication of invariance was found through differential item functioning (DIF) analyses for demographic (age, sex) or sport-related variables (competitive level, sport type, or current injury), nor for temporal stability of item properties through test-retest. Convergent and discriminant validity was supported by medium correlations with psychological inflexibility in athletes, general valued living, life satisfaction, subjective performance, and a few subtypes of performance anxiety and sport motivation. BEA is a promising instrument for measuring and working with values and values-based behavior in sport. Response categories were merged for two items (competition and training) to achieve ordered item thresholds. Labeling of the instrument’s response categories could be a potential improvement for BEA to be investigated. Further investigations are needed across various sports contexts with larger sample sizes, as well as evaluations of its usefulness in longitudinal designs in sport psychological intervention research as a measure of self-reported behavioral change. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at10.1038/s41598-026-50333-4.