Examines the influence of participating in sport on an individuals psychological make-up

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• Examines the influence of participating in sport
  on an individuals psychological make-up
• does participation in organized sport at an early
  age result in positive character development?

Sport Psychology
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• Examines the effect of particular psychological
  factors have on behavior before, during and/or
  after physical activity
• is there a particular personality characteristic
  that is necessary to handle high anxiety
  situations?

Sport Psychology
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• Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport
  Psychology (AAASP)
• Health Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Performance/Intervention
• American Psychological Association
• Division 38 (Health Psychology)
• Division 47 (Exercise and Sport Psychology)

What is a Sport Psychologist?
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Health and Exercise Psychology

• focuses on the application of psychological
  principles to the promotion and maintenance of
  health-enhancing behaviors and the psychological
  and emotional consequences of those behaviors.
  Researchers in this area also investigate the
  role of exercise in disease remediation, injury
  rehabilitation, and stress reduction.

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Social Psychology

• focuses on individual and group processes in
  sport and exercise settings. This area applies
  social psychological principles in examining
  factors related to the sport participant, coach,
  team, and spectator.

The Ringelmann Effect thus describes the inverse
relationship between the size of a team and the
magnitude of group member's individual
contribution to the accomplishment of the task.
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Performance Enhancement and Intervention

• focuses on research, theory, and practice
  intended to improve performance in exercise and
  sport. This area is also concerned with the
  effects of sport psychology interventions on the
  wellbeing of participants in exercise and sport.

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Some Issues

• Influence of personality on performance
• Effects of sport on personality
• Relationship between anxiety and performance
• Effects of motivation on performance

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Personality A Definition

• Pattern of characteristic thoughts, feelings, and
  behaviors that distinguish one person from
  another and persist over time and situations.

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Trait perspective

• examine relatively enduring intrapersonal
  characteristics that account for the unique yet
  stable behaviors to events in the environment

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Assessing Traits

• Cattells 16PF
• anxiety, introversion/extroversion,
  tough-minded/tender-minded, independence/subduedne
  ss
• Athletic Motivation Inventory (AMI)
• aggressiveness, coachability, drive, trust,
  conscientiousness, determination, leadership,
  emotional control, guilt proneness, mental
  toughness, and self-confidence

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State perspective

• individuals regulate their behavior according to
  the situation or environmental constraints

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Assessing States

• Profile of Mood States (POMS)
• tension, depression, anger, vigor, fatigue, and
  confusion
• Competitive State Anxiety Inventory (CSAI)

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Personalities of Athletes Versus Non-Athletes

• Although differences exist,
• a clear pattern of differences
• has yet to emerge

X

• Compared to non-athletes, athletes are more
• Stable
• Extroverted
• Competitive
• Dominant
• Self-confident
• Achievement-oriented
• Psychologically well-adjusted
• Conservative with respect to political views
• Authoritarian
• Persistent
• Display higher levels of self-esteem

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Traits vs. States Athletes

• It is NOT yet possible to distinguish between
  successful and unsuccessful athletes using
  personality traits
• However, it is possible to distinguish between
  the elite athletes and the lesser skilled in
  terms of mood states

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Iceberg Profile
Profile of Mood States
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POMS and Athletics

• Over-training
• high depression, fatigue, and low vigor
• Hyperactive/Misdirected
• high tension and anger
• Stale
• non distinguishable factors

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• Trait
• a motive or acquired behavioral disposition that
  predisposes an individual to perceive a wide
  range of objectively non-dangerous circumstances
  as threatening

Arousal, Anxiety, and Stress
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• State
• emotional state characterized by subjective,
  consciously perceived feelings of apprehension
  and tension.

Arousal, Anxiety, and Stress
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Arousal, Anxiety, and Stress

• general physiological and psychological
  activation of the organism that varies on a
  continuum from deep sleep to intense excitement

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• A substantial imbalance between task demands and
  response capability, under conditions where
  failure to meet demands has important
  consequences (this is typically what we think of
  as Distress but we can have Ustress)

Arousal, Anxiety, and Stress
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A possible relationship between Anxiety, Arousal
and Stress
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Drive Theory Knute Rockne Approach
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Catastrophe Theory
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Intervention

• Passive Techniques
• Conditioning
• flooding (overload)
• implosive therapy (hierarchy)
• Active Technique
• Cognitive Restructuring
• thought reorganization
• coping strategies (relaxation, positive
  self-talk, imagery)
• adaptive self-statements as re-focusing tool

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Imagery

• Mental practice
• Covert rehearsal
• Mental rehearsal
• Visualization (VMBR)

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Sport Imagery Questionnaire
The Sport Imagery Questionnaire is a 30-item
self-report questionnaire that asks athletes to
rate on a 7-point Likert-type scale (1 rarely,
7 often) how often they use imagery in five
different ways.

• Cognitive Specific (e.g., imaging perfectly
  executed sport skills)
• Cognitive General (e.g., imaging strategies of
  play)
• Motivation General - Mastery (e.g., imaging
  staying focused and solving problems)
• Motivation General - Arousal (e.g., imaging the
  arousal, stress, and anxiety that may accompany
  performance) and
• Motivation Specific (e.g., imaging specific goals
  and outcomes).

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Imagery Does it help?

• Here are some general principles to enhance
  imagery
• Make the imagery seem as realistic as possible by
  including all senses, in full color and detail,
  within a similar emotional context
• Practice imagery regularly as it may take months
  before seeing improvement
• Believe that imagery works, as your attitudes and
  expectations enhance the effect (Placebo effect)
• Keep a focused yet relaxed attention while using
  imagery
• Internal imagery (as opposed to external) is most
  effective. Picture yourself actually
  accomplishing the feat (from your minds eye),
  rather than viewing yourself from the outside
  looking in (first vs. third person)

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Motivation

• the direction and intensity of effort (Gill,
  1986) and is characterized by
• the type of choice, effort, and persistence of
  behaviors (Weiss Chaumeton, 1992)

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Exercise Adherence

• 45 of adults are sedentary
• 65 of children participate in regular physical
  activity
• 35 of adults participate in exercise on a weekly
  basis
• 10 of adults participate in vigorous and
  frequent activity
• 50 of people starting an exercise program will
  drop out within 6 months

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In general, why would an individual participate,
or persist?
(from Weiss Chaumeton, 1992)

• Improvement in skills and fitness
• establishing affiliation, socialization
• competition
• having fun
• Weight control
• Building self-esteem

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Key factors impacting motivation

• Self-Efficacy
• Use of extrinsic and/or intrinsic motivation
• Goal setting

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Changing Self-Efficacy

• Self-efficacy (cf. self-confidence) can be
  enhanced through
• (a) Successful performance
• (b) Vicarious experience
• (c) Verbal persuasion
• (d) Emotional arousal (preparation)

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Increasing Intrinsic Motivation

• using positive verbal and non-verbal feedback
• ensuring some success
• increased individual responsibility
• providing a variety of practice experiences
• appropriate use of goal setting (Locke Bryan,
  1966)

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Goal Setting Needs

• Challenging - Will it require effort?
• Realistic - Is it reasonable?
• Specific - What is the objective?
• Measurable - How will meeting this goal be
  determined?
• Controllable - Own performance not someone else

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Goal Setting for Physical Activity

• Goal setting may be improved by
• specifying goals in absolute (i.e., outcome)
  terms
• setting short-term and long-term goals
• allowing individuals to participate in setting
  goals
• making goals public and be accountable
• moderate goals, those in which attainment was
  between 10 and 50, were best

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Attribution theory

• is a cognitive approach to motivation
• Assumes that people strive to explain,
  understand, and predict events based upon their
  own perceptions
• What the athlete believes to be true is important
  for future motivation

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Outcomes can be attributed

• Internally to the person (i.e., personal force)
• Composed of ability and effort
• Externally to the environment (i.e.,
  environmental force)
• Composed of task difficulty and luck

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Classification Scheme for Causal Attribution
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Example from Sport
Locus of Control
Internal
External
Stable
Task Difficulty
Ability
Stability
Unstable
Luck
Effort

• Before competition the athlete should be
  encouraged to focus on effort versus ability
• Both effort and ability are within athletes
  control, but effort is unstable from game to game
• Athletes must focus on preparing strategies that
  will be effective against task difficulty (e.g.,
  an opposing team) versus luck
• Both luck and task difficulty are beyond
  athlete's control, but task difficulty is stable
  and predictable

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Causal Attributions
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Emotional responses associated with attributions
and outcomes
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The flip-side of attrition Addiction

• Estimates suggest that as many as 2.5 million
  Americans are addicted to exercise (exercise
  addition syndrome)
• These individuals continue to exercise even
  though contraindicated due to other problem
  (e.g., orthopedic, etc)

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Exercise and Mental Health

• 15 million Americans suffer from depression
• 10-12 million Americans suffer from anxiety or
  stress reactions
• Hectic pace of westernized, technological society

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Physical Activity Intervention for
Psychological well-being

• Psychological well-being
• via sense of mastery or achievement
• reduced depression
• reduced state and trait anxiety (endurance
  exercise)
• improved cognitive performance

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J.A. Blumenthal, et al (1999). Effects of
Exercise Training on Older Patients With Major
Depression. Arch Intern Med 1592349-2356
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Colcombe, S. Kramer, A.F. (2003). FITNESS
EFFECTS ON THE COGNITIVE FUNCTION OF OLDER
ADULTS A Meta-Analytic Study. Psych. Research
14(2), 125-130.
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Bottom Line

• Eating alone will not keep a man well he must
  also exercise (be physically active) ..." --
  Hippocrates (460-370 BC)

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AND still remains the same
Donna E. Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human
Services, 1996

• "...we can team up to create a new physical
  activity movement in this country. In doing so,
  we will save precious resources, precious
  futures, and precious lives. The time for action
  - and activity - is now."