John H. Kerr

Motivation and emotion in sport: reversal theory.

Preface. I Introduction. II Key Elements in Reversal Theory. III Into Sport: Aspects of Participation and Preference. IV Skating on Thin Ice: The Special Attraction of Dangerous Sports V We are the Champions!: Winning and Losing in Sport. VI Up for the Match?: Experiencing Arousal and Emotion in Sport. VII Get Your Retaliation in First: Aggression and Violence in Team Contact Sports. VIII The Feel-Good-Factor: Sport, Exercise, and Psychological Well-Being. IX Over the Top?: Stress in Competitive Sports. X Rethinking the Script: Future Directions in Reversal Theory Sports Research and Practice. Appendix A: Summary of Studies Investigating Dominance in Sport (Chapter III). Appendix B: Summary of Studies Investigating Dominance in Risk Sports (Chapter IV). Appendix C: Summary of Studies Investigating Success and Failure in Sports (Chapter V). Appendix D: Telic Dominance Scale (TDS). Appendix E: Negativism Dominance Scale (NDS). Appendix F: Telic State Measure (TSM) Appendix G: Tension and Effort Stress Inventory

Comparing personality constructs of risk-taking behavior

Canadian subjects (N = 120) completed four psychological scales. Three of the scales were directly related to risk-taking behavior. These were the Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS V; Zuckerman, 1979), the Tension Risk Adventure Inventory (TRAI; Keinan et al., 1984) and the Telic Dominance Scale (TDS; Murgatroyd et al., 1978). In addition, subjects completed the Desire for Control Scale (DCS; Burger and Cooper, 1979) to investigate the role of desire for control in risk-taking. The results indicated (1) significant differences between age and sensation seeking (2) a four-factor structure for the TRAI following factor analysis with this Canadian sample (3) numerous intra- and inter-scale relationships obtained from correlation analyses of and (4) four major dimensions arising from PCA of the four inventory scales.

Affective responses to success and failure:: a study of winning and losing in competitive rugby

Abstract Affective responses to success and failure in a competitive sport setting were investigated using a reversal theory framework in a replication and extension of a previous study Kerr and van Schaik, 1995 . Effects of game outcome on psychological mood states in rugby. cf11>Personality and Individual Differences, 19, 407-410.]. Participants were top-level Dutch male rugby players. Mood measures were administered pre- and postgame at four games: 2 games were won, 2 were lost. A mixed between and within subjects design was used for data analysis, in which game outcome (win or loss) was the between subjects factor, and the within subjects factor was time of testing (pre- vs. postgame). Numerous statistically significant results concerning the emotional states experienced prior to competitive sport and in response to winning and losing were obtained. Winning produced a range of pleasant emotional outcomes and reductions in arousal and stress: losing produced strong unpleasant emotional changes, a reduction in arousal but no reduction in stress.

Arousal-seeking in risk sport participants

Three independent studies, involving male Australian, Dutch and British subjects, were carried out to examine arousal-seeking (paratelic dominance) in regular performers of risk and safe sports. Research participants comprising samples of risk, safe and, in one case, non-sporting individuals completed the Telic Dominance Scale (TDS). The results indicated that: (a) Australian surfers and sailboarding groups scored similarly and significantly lower than a weight training group on all three TDS subscales and on overall telic dominance; (b) Dutch parachutists and motor-cycle racers scored significantly lower on the arousal avoidance TDS subscale than marathon runners; (c) British glider pilots scored significantly lower on the arousal avoidance TDS subscale than a non-sporting sample of the general public. The findings generally support the view, from reversal theory, that individuals who perform risk sports on a regular basis are arousal seekers.

Employee fitness programmes, absenteeism and general well-being

Abstract Increasingly, European organizations are developing employee fitness programmes (EFPs) on the assumption that doing so will improve the health, well-being and work performance of employees. Although rigorous evaluation is not common practice among these organizations, this study represents an attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of an EFP at the headquarters of the ING bank in Amsterdam. The study focused on possible changes in absenteeism, general well-being, self-confidence and perceived physical condition among EFP participants and non-participants over a 12-month period. Data were collected from 152 white-collar employees subdivided into four groups on the basis of participation or non-participation in the banks EFP. The results indicated that taking part in an EFP could lead to a significant decrease in absenteeism amongst both regular and irregular participants. With respect to employee general well-being, scores on the factor ‘worn out’ did not differ significantly among the four groups....

The effects of elevated arousal and mood on maximal strength performance in athletes.

Optimal arousal models contend that high arousal contributes to inhibited athletic performance, whereas there is reversal theory research which indicates that high positive arousal may enhance performance. To test these claims, 22 male and 6 female elite athletes were induced into high arousal telic (goal-directed) and high arousal paratelic (non goal-directed, process focussed) motivational states and tested on a standard hand strength task. Personalized guided imagery techniques and paced breathing were used to change psychological and physiological arousal. Significant increases in strength performance occurred when arousal was high and experienced as pleasant excitement in the paratelic condition (i.e., high positive arousal). Heart rate and other indicators of parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system activity were not found to mediate between psychological arousal and performance. Where athletic performance requires maximal motor strength over a short period, performance benefits of high arousal may be maximized by restructuring motivational state.

Predictability of sport participation motivation from metamotivational dominances and orientations

Abstract The hypothesis of a relationship among metamotivational dominances as assessed by dominance scales, life metamotivational orientations (LifeMOs) and more specific metamotivational orientations towards sport and physical activity participation (SportMOs), derived from questionnaire responses, was tested using the framework of Reversal Theory. Regression analyses showed that participation motivation was weakly but reliably predictable from metamotivational dominances in a large sample of Hong Kong school children and youth (N=2346), and that SportMOs were similarly predictable from LifeMOs and dominances in a sample of Hong Kong university entrants (N=3162). These findings are interpreted as supportive of Reversal Theory, which would anticipate low, but statistically significant relationships on the basis that motivation for behavior, in this case sport participation, is believed to be influenced by a complex interaction of situational variables, metamotivational states, metamotivational dominances and metamotivational orientations. The findings provide a better understanding of the relationships between the motivational factors that influence sport participation.

Physical exercise, employee fitness and the management of health at work

Abstract This paper presents some recent data on why organizations invest in exercise and physical fitness programmes for their stiff. These data suggest that, owing to a lack of evaluation studies, organizations act mainly on the basis of assumption and belief. However, from a subsequent review of the available literature on the personal and organizational effects of such programmes, it appears that these assumptions and beliefs are not altogether unfounded. The paper concludes by discussing the ways in which exercise and employee fitness programmes might help die individual and their organization in terms of the management of health at work.

Emotion and stress in serious and hedonistic leisure sport activities.

Forty-four Japanese women recreational tennis players aged 28 to 58 years old acted as the main sample of volunteer participants in this reversal theory-based study of changes in emotion and stress induced by a single session of leisure activity. Based on their primary reason for playing tennis (e.g., health, exercise, weight control, versus fun, challenge), participants were divided into “serious” (telic) and “hedonistic” (paratelic) leisure groups respectively. Participants completed the Tension and Effort Stress Inventory (TESI), five minutes before and within five minutes after playing tennis. Although no significant inter-group differences were found, a number of significant pre-to post-session intra-group changes were revealed following statistical analysis. For the serious group, a decrease in overall unpleasant emotions was significant, as were decreases in external tension stress. A significant decrease in external tension stress was also obtained for the hedonistic group. For individual emotions, a number of statistically significant results were also revealed. Taken together, the results indicated that, especially for the serious group, tennis activities had a therapeutic effect, producing an improvement in overall affect.

A (Mis)guided Adventure Tourism Experience: An Autoethnographic Analysis of Mountaineering in Bolivia

Due to the fast growing nature of the adventure tourism industry and the commodification of adventure activities therein, improved understanding of adventure tourism experiences and mountaineer adventure tourists in particular is needed. In an effort to move beyond traditional market segmentation approaches, this study analysed autoethnographical data from an adventure tourism mountaineering experience in Bolivia. This autoethnographic method facilitated a deeper understanding of mountaineering adventure tourism experiences and allowed for a multifaceted view of risk perceptions that has often been neglected in the literature. Data were analysed with a robust psychological framework (i.e. reversal theory) that was used to explain: (a) paradoxical desires for risk and safety in adventure tourism and (b) emotional and motivational fluctuations experienced by mountaineer adventure tourists. The importance of creating a ‘protective frame’ to ensure enjoyable experiences was identified, along with key factors that influenced this frame (e.g. guide behaviour, equipment, safety management procedures, other tourists, environmental conditions). Implications for adventure tourism practitioners are discussed, along with theoretical analyses. The utility of autoethnographic research in adventure settings, particularly in conjunction with established psychological theory, is highlighted and suggested as a fruitful avenue through which to enhance the adventure tourism discourse.