Sport psychology

• Aspects of personality:

  • nature: personality is wholly inherited i
  • nurture: personality is wholly learned/experienced
  • Personality is a person's unique psychological make-up. The personality of sports performers clearly varies from person to person. In trying to understand personality, trait theory and social learning theory present differing perspectives.
• Trait theory: Trait theory suggests that personality is innate, stable and enduring.

  • Extrovert personalities are likely to show extrovert characteristics, e.g. sociable, active, talkative, outgoing personality type usually associated with team sports players.
  • Introvert personalities are likely to show introvert characteristics, e.g. quite passive, reserved, shy personality type usually associated with individual sports players.
• Interactionist perspective:suggests that a person's traits are used and adapted in relation to the situation a person finds themselves in.

  Thus, behaviour can change and be adapted to the situation.

  • Kurt Lewin suggested that B = f (PE), or behaviour is a function of personality and the environment. Thus, personality traits are used and adapted to the situation.
• Interactionist perspective:

  Hollander suggested that personality is made up of three features:

  • the core of the performer — 1 (beliefs and values — unlikely to change)
  • the typical responses - 2 (usual responses to situations - may change)
  • the role-related behaviour - 3 (situation-specific behaviour — likely to change)
• Knowledge of an interactionist perspective could improve performance in the following ways:

  • coaches may be able to predict behaviour in certain situations
  • action can then be taken to remove the performer or utilise their personality
  • a coach can help a performer to control their behaviour
  • a coach could identify situations that cause specific responses and recreate these in training
• Attitudes: Triadic model

  An attitude is a value or behaviour that is aimed at another attitude, object or thing. The Triadic model suggests that there are three parts or components of an attitude:

  • cognitive: what you think and know
  • affective: your feelings about the attitude, object or thing
  • behavioural: what you do about it
• Two main ways ti change a person‘s attitude:

  • cognitive dissonance: A coach may give new information to the performer to cause unease and motivate change. New information may challenge their previous attitude
  • persuasive communication:
  • the timing of the message is effective
  • the message is clear
  • person giving message is high status
  • person receiving the message is willing to accept
• Anxiety: be defined as a state of nervousness and worry. It can include irrational thinking.

  • somatic: a physiological response to a threat, e.g. increased heart rate or 'butterflies in your stomach'
  • cognitive: a psychological response, e.g. worrying about losing
  • competitive trait: a disposition to suffer from nervousness in most competitive sporting situations
  • competitive state: a nervous response to specific sporting situations, e.g. being specifically worried about somersaults when trampolining
• Aggression:

  • Aggressive behaviour is the intent to harm outside the rules, a form of hostility. An example would be deliberately elbowing someone in the face during a game of netball.
  • Assertive behaviour is well-motivated behaviour, which is within the rules. An example would be tackling someone in football.
• Theories why aggression occurs:

  Instinct theory:

  aggression is a result of natural instinct:

  • aggression is spontaneous and innate
  • aggressive ‘animal instinct‘ surface when faced with threat
  • once aggression is released, a CATHARTIC effect is experienced
  • sports can be used to experience catharsis
• Theory for aggression:

  Frustration- aggression hypothesis:

  suggest that aggression is inevitable when goals are blocked and performers become frustrated.

  • frustration leads to aggression
  • the release of aggression can lower the level of frustration
  • if aggression is not released can lead to further frustration and aggression
• Theory For aggression:

  social learning theory: suggest that aggression is a learned response

  • aggressive acts are observed and copied
  • you are more likely to copy an aggressive act if the act is reinforced by others
  • aggressive behaviour is more likey to be copied if it is consistent
• Theory for aggression:

  Aggression cue theory: suggest that aggression is caused by a learning trigger

  • a learned trigger or cue acts as a stimulus to act aggressively
  • the cue may come from fellow performers or coaches
  • the cue may be another performer or certain equipment, e.g. boxing gloves or enticement by the crowd
• Controlling aggression:

  • punish aggressive behaviour
  • promote non-aggressive role models
  • promote assertiveness over aggression
  • encourage stress-management techniques
  • provide responsibility
  • apply the rules fairly and consistently
  • fair-play awards and education campaigns
• Types of motivation: as the drive to succeed or the desire to achieve something

  • Intrinsic: the drive from within, such as for pride, satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment or self-worth
  • Extrinsic: the drive to perform well or to win in order to gain external rewards such as prizes, trophies or money
  • Tangible: real or actual, capable of being touched as it has a physical presence
  • Intangible: incapable of being perceived by the sense of touch and not having a physical presence
• Achievement motivation: Atkinson's model of achievement motivation relates to how much desire and drive a performer has to persist in trying to succeed. It can be summarised as:

  drive to succeed - fear of failure

  A person's motivation and drive to succeed is dependent on which one of two personality types they have:

  • NAF: need to avoid failure
  • NACH: need to achieve, adopting approach behaviour
• Characteristics of NACH:

  • approach behaviour
  • take risks
  • not afraid to fail
  • confident
  • task persistent

  Characteristics of NAF:

  • avoidance behaviour
  • give up easily
  • lack confidence
  • take easy option
• Achievement goal theory: Achievement goal theory proposes that the motivation and persistence of a performer is dependent upon the goal set and how success will be measured:

  • task-orientated goals could relate to technique and personal performance comparisons, so achieving this goal does not depend on the outcome and confidence tends to be maintained
  • outcome-orientated goals tend to focus on the outcome or result and if this is not achieved then confidence may drop
• Developing approach behaviour: Coaches can develop approach behaviour using the following strategies:

  • encourage attribution of success to internal factors
  • reinforce acceptable behaviour
  • encourage and ensure success
  • improve self-confidence
  • set realistic goals, predominantly task-orientated
• Zajonc’s model: Zajonc's model of social facilitation deals with the effect of the presence of others on performance. Other people cause a rise in the performer's arousal levels, which subsequently increases the chance of producing a dominant response.

  Two possible outcomes:

  • social facilitation: the positive effect of the presence of others on performance
  • social inhibition: the negative effect of the presence of others on performance
• Strategies to eliminate social inhibition:

  • get performers used to an audience
  • gradually increase the size of the audience
  • gradually introduce evaluation
  • aim to improve focus and concentration
• Group dynamic: Successful teams or groups are not simply individuals; they work cohesively together. Bruce Tuckman suggested five stages of group formation:

  1. Forming: form and get to know each other
  2. Storming: personal conflict possible, strive for position or status
  3. Norming: conflicts have been resolved, standards are accepted
  4. Performing: group complete their role to achieve group goals
• Cohesion: the tendency for individuals to work together to achieve their goals. This involves the forces that keep the group members on task.

  • task cohesion: individuals working together to achieve a result
  • social cohesion: individuals relating to each other within the group

  task cohesion is generally more important than social cohesion, as task cohesion ensures that the group are working towards their goals and can lead to social cohesion.
• Steiner’s model of productivity:

  actual productivity = potential productivity - losses due to faulty processes.

  • Potential productivity: best performance based on player ability and group resources
  • actual productivity: is the actual outcome of group performance
  • faulty group processes: things that went wrong to reduce group outcome and prevent group potential being reached
• The Ringelmann effect:

  group performance decreases with increased group size. Bigger the team, the lower the individual effort.

  Social loafing: individual loss of motivation due to lack of performance identification,
• Learned helplessness: is a global or specific belief that failure inevitable.

  • global: thinking you will fail at all sports
  • specific: thinking you will fail at taking a penalty kick.

  Strategies to prevent learned helplessness:

  • set realistic goals
  • point out previous successes
  • use of stress management techniques
• Self- efficacy: belief in one's ability to master a specific sporting situation.

  Bandura’s model: suggest that self-efficacy varies with the situation and is affected by four factors:

  • performance accomplishments- have you done it before
  • Vicarious experience- watching someone of similar ability
  • Verbal persuasion- encouragement from others
  • Emotional arousal- perception of the effects of anxiety on performance
• Vealey’s model: suggest that self-confidence is affected by the interaction of factors:

  • Trait confidence: belief you can do well in a range of sports
  • State confidence: belief you can do well in specific sports
  • The situation the performer is in
  • Competitive orientation: degree to which the performer is drawn towards competitive scenario.
• Characteristics of effective leaders:

  • charism
  • knowledgeable
  • motivational
  • experience

  Two types of leaders:

  • prescribed: appointed from outside the group
  • Emergent: appointed or emerging naturally from within the group
• Styles of leadership:

  Autocratic:

  • A leader who makes the decisions without talking to group
  • perceived as bossy and overpowering

  Democratic:

  • decision made with talking to group
  • can take time

  Laissez-faire:

  • leader does very little and leaves the group to it
  • when group performing there is very little to no involvement from the coach