coping & personality

1
Introduction
SPORT PSYCHOLOGYChapter 1
Lavallee et al. (2004) Sport Psychology
Contemporary Themes (Palgrave Macmillan,
Basingstoke)
2
Introduction, History and Development

• What do we mean by the term sport and exercise
  psychology?
• A wide range of interpretations are available
• A sub-discipline of psychology that applies
  psychological theories and methods to an
  understanding of physical exercise in
  general,and competitive sport in
  particular

3
Introduction, History and Development

• Who is sport psychology for?
• The answer depends on who you ask
• Restricting ownership wont help the field
  develop
• There may be a need to adopt a more flexible and
  pragmatic approach
• Work whether applied or academic should be
  tailored to meet the needs of a variety of
  potential users both inside and outside the world
  of sport

4
Introduction, History and Development

• Early Influences
• Ancient Greek and Roman Cultures - Mens Sana in
  Corpore Sano
• Norman Tripletts (1898) archival and
  experimental research on dynamogism (social
  facilitation) among US cyclists
• Spectator psychology - work by Patrick (1903) and
  Howard (1912)
• 1920s - Coleman Griffith

5
Introduction, History and Development

• Coleman Robert Griffith (1893-1966)
• Originally trained as an educational psychologist
• Established the University of Illinois Athletic
  Research Laboratory (1925)
• Published The Psychology of Coaching (1926) and
  Psychology and Athletics (1928)
• Consultant sport psychologist (Chicago Cubs)
• Returned to educational psychology

6
Introduction, History and Development

• 1930s-1950s
• Characterised as period of stagnation in North
  America, with the exception of motor learning
  research
• Emergence of sport psychology in the Soviet Union
  in 1940s and 1950s
• Sport psychologists accompanying Eastern European
  teams by the time of the 1960 Olympics
• Sport psychologist works with Brazilian soccer
  World Cup champions (Sweden, 1958)

7
Introduction, History and Development

• 1960s-1970s
• International Society of Sport Psychology
  established and meets for first time, Rome 1965
• European Federation of Sport Psychology (FEPSAC)
  and North American Society for the Psychology of
  Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA) both
  established in 1968
• International Journal of Sport Psychology
  launched in 1970, followed by the Journal of
  Sport Psychology in 1979

8
Theories and Models

• Early years
• Sport psychology characterised by the adoption
  and application of theories and models from the
  psychology mainstream, e.g.
• Hulls drive theory of motivation
• Yerkes and Dodsons law
• Atkinsons achievement motivation theory
• Zajoncs drive theory

9
Theories and Models

• Early years cont.
• Adopted theories were often developed to consider
  phenomena in other applied contexts
• The justification for generalisation to sport and
  exercise was not always made clear, e.g.
• Locke Lathams work on goal setting in industry

10
Theories and Models

• Recent Years
• Sport-specific theories and models have emerged,
  tailored to sport and exercise contexts
• Draws on a more diverse literature and provides a
  greater breadth of coverage
• Compare recent and earlier editions of sport
  psychology textbooks, e.g.
• Psychological Dynamics of Sport (Gill, 1986)
• Psychological Dynamics of Sport and Exercise
  (Gill, 2000)

11
Theories and Models

• Pure and Applied Sport Psychology
• Friction between
• Those who are reluctant to practice or offer
  professional advice before developing a sounder
  research base
• Those who are attracted by the practical results
  that they are able to achieve through immediate
  action or intervention
• This has been a longstanding problem
• NB Problem Athletes and How to Handle Them
  (Ogilvie Tutko, 1966)
• Separate structures emerged
• NB Association for the Advancement of Applied
  Sport Psychology (AAASP)

12
Methods and Measures

• Psychology as a whole is characterised by
  methodological pluralism
• - employing a wide range of techniques for
  understanding, predicting and interpreting human
  behaviour and experience
• In the past sport psychology tended to rely on a
  restricted range of empirical methods and
  afforded primacy to traditional, quantitative
  procedures, e.g. trait measures of personality
• See Directory of Psychological Tests in the Sport
  and Exercise Sciences (Ostrow, 1996)

13
Methods and Measures

• Psychometric Tests
• Important issues to consider prior to testing
• Is there a sound rationale for using this
  particular test with this particular population?
• What is the theoretical perspective underpinning
  the research?
• What test to use?
• Who to test?
• When to test?

14
Methods and Measures

• In recent years, evidence has indicated that the
  exclusive reliance on quantitative methods may be
  less strong
• Appeals for a more eclectic approach to data
  gathering may be having an effect
• However, qualitative techniques have yet to make
  significant inroads into the literature
• Nevertheless with ever-growing appreciation of
  these legitimate alternatives, the future looks
  promising

15
Practical Issues andInterventions

• From Smocks to Jocks (Martens, 1979)
• Roles for sport psychologists (Singer, 1984)
• Basic researchers
• Educational sport psychologists
• Clinical sport psychologists
• Counselling interventions

16
Study Questions
1. Discuss the early history of sport and
exercise psychology 2. Provide some examples of
how different countries around the world have
contributed to the professional development of
sport psychology as a field 3. With regard to the
application of theories and models within the
field, contrast the development in the 1960s and
1970s with that of the present-day 4. List and
explain some of the issues that are important to
understand prior to using psychological tests in
sport contexts 5. List and describe the
different roles of sport and exercise
psychologists
17
Further Reading

• British Psychological Society (2002) Special
  Issue Sport and Exercise Psychology, The
  Psychologist, vol. 15 (8)
• Buckworth, J. and Dishman, R.K. (2002) Exercise
  Psychology. Champaign, IL Human Kinetics
• Gill, D.L. (1997) Sport and Exercise
  Psychology,in J. Massengale and R. Swanson
  (eds), History of Exercise and Sport Science (pp.
  293-320). Champaign, IL Human Kinetics
• Lidor, R., Morris, T., Bardaxoglou, N. and
  Becker, B. (2001) (eds) The World Sport
  Psychology Sourcebook. Morgantown, WV Fitness
  Information Technology.
• Singer, R.N., Hausenblas, H.A. and Janelle, C.M.
  (2001) (eds) Handbook of Sport Psychology (2nd
  ed.). NY John Wiley and Sons.