Participation in sport can paradoxically be a source of psychological needs satisfaction and psychological needs frustration. Self-determination theory was applied to explain temporal relationships of athletes’ psychological needs satisfactions and psychological needs frustrations with burnout through a two-wave longitudinal study. Participants included 184 athletes (M age = 24.04 years, SD = 5.56, 67.9% male) representing a range of competitive levels. A latent difference score model specifying longitudinal relationships between burnout and needs satisfactions and needs frustrations was tested. Significant within-variable changes were observed for all needs-satisfaction and needs-frustration variables. Longitudinal associations were found in Models 3 (autonomy frustration) and 6 (relatedness satisfaction). Higher burnout at baseline predicted an increase in autonomy frustration (β = 0.13, p < .05), whereas higher relatedness satisfaction at baseline reduced burnout levels later in the season (β = −0.22, p < .001). To conclude, continuous tracking of athlete burnout levels and fostering of needs-supportive climates that minimize autonomy-controlling behaviors are recommended for the burnout prevention in athletes.
Browse
Longitudinal Associations Between Athletes’ Psychological Needs and Burnout Across a Competitive Season: A Latent Difference Score Analysis
Stephen Shannon, Garry Prentice, Noel Brick, Gerard Leavey, and Gavin Breslin
Volume 44 (2022): Issue S1 (May 2022)
North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity
Attitudes of Sport Fans Toward the Electronic Sign-Stealing Scandal in Major League Baseball: Differing Associations With Perfectionism and Excellencism
Patrick Gaudreau and Benjamin J.I. Schellenberg
The winners of the 2017 World Series were found guilty of illegally using electronic devices to steal the signs of their opponents. Many but not all sport fans negatively reacted to this cheating incident. We relied on the model of excellencism and perfectionism to determine if perfection strivers are less unfavorable toward electronic sign stealing (cheating) compared with excellence strivers. Sport fans (N = 321) completed a measure of excellencism and perfectionism. We used three different approaches to measure attitudes toward electronic sign stealing in baseball. Results of a multivariate multiple regression showed that sport fans who are perfection strivers held more favorable attitudes toward electronic sign stealing compared with excellence strivers. Perfection strivers also reported higher moral disengagement and winning-at-all-cost mentality. These findings are insightful because they indicate that perfectionistic standards significantly relate to sport cheating-related attitudes once we separate excellencism from perfectionism.
Digest
Kim Gammage, Jeff Caron, Alyson Crozier, Alison Ede, Matt Hoffman, Christopher Hill, Sean Locke, Desi McEwan, Kathleen Mellano, Eva Pila, Matthew Stork, and Svenja Wolf
Modeling Players’ Scanning Activity in Football
Marius Pokolm, Robert Rein, Daniel Müller, Stephan Nopp, Marie Kirchhain, Karl Marius Aksum, Geir Jordet, and Daniel Memmert
The purpose of this study was to develop and test models of scanning activity in football. Gibson’s ecological approach of visual perception and exploratory activity provided the theoretical framework for the models. The video-based data analysis consisted of 17 selected matches and 239 players of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) U17 and U19 European Championship 2018 and the UEFA U17 and U21 European Championship 2019. The results showed a positive relation between scanning frequency and successful passes, as well as changes in body orientation. Scanning frequency was also related to a player’s appearances in national teams and to opponent pressure. Opponent pressure had a large effect on pass result and the player’s body orientation. Previous research on the relation between scanning frequency and performance was extended by several contextual predictors. Future research should focus on gaining a deeper understanding of the relation between scanning frequency and further contextual variables related to scanning.
Pulling the Trigger: The Effect of a 5-Minute Slow Diaphragmatic Breathing Intervention on Psychophysiological Stress Responses and Pressurized Pistol Shooting Performance
Aodhagán Conlon, Rachel Arnold, Ezio Preatoni, and Lee J. Moore
This study examined the effect of slow diaphragmatic breathing on psychophysiological stress responses and pressurized performance. Sixty-seven participants (40 female; M age = 20.17 ± 2.77 years) were randomly assigned to either a diaphragmatic-breathing, paced-breathing, or control group. Participants completed a nonpressurized shooting task and then received instructions about a pressurized version. Next, the diaphragmatic group was told to breathe at 6 breaths/min, the paced group at 12 breaths/min, and the control group received no instructions. Following a 5-min intervention period, participants completed the pressurized task while performance was assessed. Psychophysiological stress responses (e.g., cognitive anxiety, heart rate) were recorded throughout. Results revealed that diaphragmatic breathing had mixed effects on stress responses, with some unaffected (e.g., heart rate) and others reduced (e.g., cognitive anxiety), and little effect on performance. Findings suggested that slow diaphragmatic breathing might not aid pressurized performance but could benefit psychological stress responses.
Children’s Motivation Profiles in Sports and Physical Activities: A Latent Profile Analysis and Self-Determination Theory Approach
Annette Lohbeck, Andreas Hohmann, Philipp von Keitz, and Monika Daseking
Using latent profile analysis and self-determination theory, the present study aimed to examine younger children’s motivation profiles in sports and physical activities and the relations of those profiles to various predictors and achievement outcomes. A total of 1,116 German children from Grade 2 participated in this study. Latent-profile-analysis solutions based on five behavioral-regulation types covered in self-determination theory (i.e., intrinsic, identified, introjected, external, amotivation) were tested. Results favored a three-profile solution, showing three theoretically meaningful and distinct motivation profiles labeled “amotivated,” “non-self-determined,” and “self-determined.” Older children and children with a lower physical self-concept were more likely to be members of the amotivated profile relative to the other profiles than younger children and children with a higher physical self-concept. Furthermore, children of the self-determined profile demonstrated the best physical performance in various motor-skills tests.
Volume 44 (2022): Issue 2 (Apr 2022)
Positive Implicit Associations for Physical Activity Predict Physical Activity and Affective Responses During Exercise
Gerson Daniel de Oliveira Calado, Andressa de Oliveira Araújo, Gledson Tavares Amorim Oliveira, Jeffer Eidi Sasaki, Amanda L. Rebar, Daniel Gomes da Silva Machado, and Hassan Mohamed Elsangedy
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships of implicit associations and explicit evaluations with affective responses during an aerobic exercise session, physical activity, and sedentary behavior in adults. Fifty adults (70% women; median age = 31 years; 25th, 75th percentiles: 24.50, 40.50 years old; body mass index = 25.29 ± 4.97 kg/m2) not engaged in regular physical activity completed an implicit association test and a questionnaire of explicit evaluations and wore an accelerometer for 7 days. After the 7-day period, the participants performed 30 min of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise. Every 5 min, the affective response and the perception of effort were recorded. Participants who had more positive implicit associations toward physical activity (vs. sedentary behavior) reported higher affective responses during exercise and engaged in more moderate to vigorous physical activity. Encouraging pleasant physical activity may act to partially improve future physical activity through automatic motivational processes.