Sport Psychology

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Sport Psychology
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History of Sport Psych

• Chinese and Greek Civilizations
• -Healthy mind in a healthy body
• 1800s
• -First sport psychology research
• -Effects of audience on cyclist performance
• Past Three Decades
• -Recognition and growth of sport psychology
  discipline

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Growth of Sport Psychology

• Sport psychology has only recently developed and
  grown due to
• 1. Expansion of scientific knowledge and
  emergence of different branches
• 2. Increased media attention

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Outline

• In this section you will be introduced to the
  following sport psychology issues
• -Influence of personality on performance
• - Effect of sport on personality
• - Relationship between anxiety and performance
• - Effect of motivation on sport performance
• - Effects of the audience on athletic
  accomplishments

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PERSONALITY AND THE ATHELETE
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• Personality
• Pattern of characteristic thoughts, feelings and
  behaviours that distinguish one person from
  another and persist over time and situations.

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• The study of personality in sport psychology can
  help us answer the following questions
• Do athletes possess different personality
  characteristics than non-athletes?
• Do winners possess different personality
  profiles than losers?
• Does personality determine sport preference, or
  does a particular sport mould our personality
  accordingly?
• Can personality be changed, or does it remain
  relatively fixed throughout involvement in sport?

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Personalities of Athletes vs. Non- Athletes
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Personalities of Athletes vs. Non- Athletes

• 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
• Persistant
• Display higher levels of self esteem

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Personalities of Athletes vs. Non- Athletes

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

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Personality Profiles of Athletes Differing in
Skill Level
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Definitions

• Personality traits psychological
  characteristics of the athlete which remain
  relatively stable over time
• Personality states right now kinds of
  feelings which are situation-specific
• State-trait controversy disagreement of the
  relative merits of studying states versus traits
• Interactional theory the best state-trait
  approach, which considers personality traits and
  states, as well

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• 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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Mood States of Elite vs. Non-Elite Athletes

• Mood states of elite athletes vs lesser skilled
  athletes are below in
• Tension
• Depression
• Fatigue
• Anger
• Confusion
• AND ARE MARKEDLY HIGHER IN
• VIGOR

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Iceberg Profile

• This mood state profile resembles an iceberg and
  is therefore often referred to as the iceberg
  profile

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Developmental Effects of Sport on
Personality
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Are personality differences due to the athletic
experience?ORDo certain personality traits
cause the individual to go out for sports(
gravitational hypothesis)?Evidence tends to
support the gravitational hypothesisHOWEVER,
participation in sports can also enhance
personality development
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Personality and the AthleteConclusions

• Athletes tend to be more extroverted, independent
  and self-confident than non-athletes they also
  tend to be less anxious
• Elite athletes can be distinguished from lesser
  skilled athlete by means of the iceberg profile
  it is not possible, however, to distinguish
  between winners and losers
• Individuals with certain personality traits tend
  to gravitate toward sportssport also has the
  potential to enhance certain personality traits

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ANXIETY AND THE ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE
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Arousal

• Physiological state of readiness and
  psychological activation
• Involves the autonomic nervous system
• Bodys way of preparing you for fight or flight

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Stress

• Non-specific response of the body to any demand
  made upon it
• Unemotional bodily response to some type of
  stressor
• Can be either good or bad, depending upon the
  individuals personal interpretation
• Eustress ie winning the lottery
• Distress ie receiving a failing grade on a
  midterm test

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Anxiety

• Tension and worry that results from distress
• A negatively charged emotional state
  characterized by discomfort and nervousness
• Two forms of anxiety
• Trait anxiety a personality characteristic
• State anxiety a right now kind of anxiety

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Anxiety Contd

• Two components of state anxiety
• 1. Cognitive state anxiety (psychological
  component)
• Caused by fear of failure
• Result of worrying
• I am afraid I am going to lose
• Somatic state anxiety (physical component)
• perception of physiological responses
• I feel nervous before a major contest

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Anxiety and Athletic Performance
Relationship
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Pre-Competitive Anxiety

• Temporal changes in cognitive and somatic state
  anxiety as competition approaches

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The Effect of Pre-competitive Anxiety on
Performance

• Relationship between somatic anxiety and
  performance takes the for of an inverted-U
• See graph in Text
• Relationship between cognitive anxiety and
  athletic performance has been shown to be linear
  and negative.

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Implications

• Increases in somatic anxiety are associated with
  improved athletic performance up to a certain
  optimal level therefore, athletes should attempt
  to increase their somatic anxiety up to an
  optimal level by psyching up or getting
  pumped up
• The level the of cognitive state anxiety, the
  better the athlete will perform therefore,
  athletes must learn to deal with the symptoms of
  cognitive anxiety.

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What are some symptoms of Cognitive State Anxiety?

• Use your text.
• Provide several examples

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Relaxation Interventions to lower CS Anxiety

• Progressive Muscular Relaxation (PMR)
• Takes time initially, but with practice can be
  completed in minutes
• High Value the night before.
• Dave Heinbuch

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Relax Interventions

• Positive Imagery.
• Needs practice

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More Relax Interventions

• Positive Self Talk
• Reassuring ones self
• Give some examples.