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This study was mainly designed to contrast the Individual Zones of Optimal Functioning (IZOF) emotion model and the performance profiling approach in predicting performance of rugby players based on normative, individualized, situational, and relatively stable characteristics. Pregame assessments were accomplished in 33 male Italian rugby players of a top-level team over a whole championship, and individual interviews were conducted at the end of the season. Performance differentiation and discrimination between athletes were reached on relatively stable qualities (i.e., constructs), according to predictions within the performance profile framework. Study findings also revealed that emotions modify widely during the game because of external events (e.g., behaviors of teammates or opponents) or individual behaviors (e.g., individual faults). In conclusion, findings add support to the contention that extending the IZOF model to other physical or performance related components would require situational rather than relatively stable qualities. On the other hand, the concept of zones extended to constructs seems beneficial for practical purposes.

Drawing upon the nonlinear model of attention focus, the purpose of this study was to compare the intrinsic and intentional dynamics of task-related thoughts (TRT) in trained runners and nonrunners during an incremental maximal test. Fourteen trained runners and 14 nonrunners were assigned to 2 conditions: intrinsic (nonimposed thoughts) and intentional (imposed, task-unrelated thoughts; TUT). A significant effect of running velocity over TUT/TRT dynamics in both groups and conditions was observed (p < .001). Although, all participants received instructions to keep TUT for the entire duration of the test, an initially stable TUT phase was followed by a metastable phase (i.e., switches between TUT and TRT) an a final stable TRT phase nearing volitional exhaustion. The stable TRT phase lasted longer in runners group (p < .05) and included higher probabilities in pace monitoring thoughts subcategory (p < .05). The results revealed that trained runners seem to use TRT (i.e., pace monitoring) to maximize performance, and confirm the nonlinear model of attention focus during incremental maximal run in trained runners and nonrunners.

In sport psychology, there is a need for ethnic and gender attribution research (Allison, 1988; Duda & Allison, 1989, 1990; Gill, 1993). This study examined effects of (a) ethnicity (African American, Anglo, Hispanic, Native American); (b) gender; and (c) years of track experience on causal attributional dimensions (locus of causality, stability, controllability). The 755 track athletes (ages 13—18) in this study were chosen from 32 randomly selected high schools. Two 3-way MANOVAs were used to analyze data for success and failure. Results indicated that gender and experience had no significant effects on attributional dimensions. Athletes classified causality toward internal, controllable, and unstable ends of the Causal Dimension Scale. Success, however, was perceived to be more internal, controllable, and stable than failure. Significant ethnic differences were identified. Anglos perceived success as more internal and controllable than did either African Americans or Native Americans. Anglos perceived failure as more controllable than African Americans did. Anglos perceived failure as more internal and controllable, but less stable than Native Americans did.

The majority of research on children’s peer aggression has focused exclusively on the school context. Very few studies have investigated peer aggression in sports clubs. The prevalence and stability of peer aggression, prosocial behavior, and resource control strategies for children participating in three types of sports (martial arts, contact, and noncontact sports) were examined in two contexts: the sports club and the elementary school. We distinguished aggressive children with (i.e., Machiavellians) and without prosocial tendencies (i.e., coercive-aggressive children). Self-reports about experiences in the two contexts where gathered from 1,425 Dutch elementary school students (717 boys and 708 girls, fourth to sixth grade, mean age 11.25 years) who were participating in a sports club. We found roles for resource control strategies to be rather stable across contexts. The findings did not provide support for the “enhancement” assumption in these contexts with regard to martial arts participants.

This study aimed to investigate the influence of an attribution training program for learners who attribute their sport performance to dysfunctional attributions. Participants were 35 college beginner tennis players who were oriented to attribute their performance in a tennis skill task to controllable, unstable factors; uncontrollable, stable factors; or no specific factors. Participants received fictitious failure feedback over 10 trial blocks administered during four sessions. Dependent variables included attributions, expectations, emotions, persistence, and performance. MANOVA analyses revealed that it is possible to modify attributions in regard to a tennis performance task. More importantly, the new attributions were consistent up to 3 weeks postintervention and were generalized to a different tennis task. In addition, participants who changed their attributions to more functional ones had higher expectations for future success and experienced positive emotions.

There is a shortage of research in which the effect of attribution training interventions on sport performance has been investigated. Therefore, the primary goal of this study was to determine the influence of an attribution training program on individuals who attribute their sport performance to dysfunctional attributions. Sixty college recreational basketball players were oriented to perceive their performance in a basketball skill task as due to (a) controllable, unstable factors, (b) uncontrollable, stable factors, or (c) no specific factors. Dependent variables included attributions and performance time. Using MANOVA and repeated measures factorial ANOVAs, results revealed that it is possible to modify attributions and performance in regard to a basketball performance task. The data are supportive of the potential influence of attribution training in a sport setting and the use of a controllable, unstable dimensional orientation as a means to improve performance.

Practitioners in helping professions have recognized the importance of philosophy of service as a fundamental factor driving the process of behavior change. This article explores professional philosophy as an underlying element of successful sport psychology service delivery. A hierarchical structure of professional philosophy is proposed that delineates important components both overtly discussed and implied in the sport psychology literature. These components—arranged from the most stable and internal to the most dynamic and external—are (a) personal core beliefs and values, (b) theoretical paradigm concerning behavior change, (c) models of practice and the consultant’s role, (d) intervention goals, and (e) intervention techniques and methods. Each component is examined from the perspective that philosophy guides practice. The resulting conceptualization of professional philosophy may be used for both didactic and research purposes aimed at furthering consultant effectiveness in sport settings.

The purposes of the present investigation were to examine the coping responses of different subgroups of athletes (e.g., high and low trait anxious athletes), and to assess the consistency of athlete’s coping behaviors across situations. Two-hundred and seventy-three athletes completed the Sport Anxiety Scale (SAS) by Smith, Smoll, & Schutz (1990) and coping assessments in trait and state versions of the sport adapted COPE (MCOPE) by Crocker and Graham (1995). The state coping measures assessed coping responses of situations for which the athletes actually experienced. The results of three separate, doubly multivariate, repeated measures, MANOVA’s showed that high trait anxious athletes responded to stressful situations using different coping behaviors (e.g., denial, wishful thinking, and self-blame) than the low trait anxious athletes. In addition, coping appears to be more stable than situationally variable as Pearson correlational coefficients computed between the three measures ranged from 0.53 to 0.80. The results are discussed with regard to theoretical, research, and applied issues.

This study examined the relationship between sport achievement orientation and cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety, and self-confidence in a sample of male (n=60) track and field athletes. Subjects responded to the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) on five occasions during the precompetition period and also completed the Sport Orientation Questionnaire (SOQ). Stepwise multiple-regression analyses were employed in order to determine whether any of the SOQ subscales emerged as significant predictors of the CSAI-2 subscale scores. The dominant predictor to emerge for each anxiety subcomponent was the competitiveness subscale. The subjects were then dichotomized into high and low groups of competitiveness by means of the median-split technique. Two-way analyses of variance revealed significant group by time-to-competition interactions for both cognitive and somatic anxiety. In the case of cognitive anxiety, the high competitive group exhibited no change across time; the low competitive group showed a progressive increase as the competition neared. Findings for somatic anxiety revealed that the low competitive group reported an earlier elevation in the somatic response. Significant main effects of both time-to-event and group (but no interaction) were found for self-confidence. The findings revealed that the high competitive group, although reporting higher levels of self-confidence throughout the experimental period, reported reduced self-confidence on the day of competition; in the low competitive group, self-confidence remained stable. These results suggest that the precompetition temporal patterning of the multidimensional anxiety subcomponents differ as a function of competitiveness.