Stiliani Chroni

Examining factors associated with intrinsic motivation in physical education: a qualitative approach.

Objectives. To provide further information regarding factors associated with students’ intrinsic motivation in physical education using a qualitative approach. Design and Methods. Sixteen in-depth interviews were conducted with secondary physical education students who were selected from a pool of 254 students on the basis of their score on relevant questionnaires. Results. Analyses of interview transcripts revealed that factors associated with intrinsic motivation for participating in physical education were both social-environmental and individual differences. Individual differences in perceived competence, perceived autonomy, physical appearance, and goal orientation influenced students’ intrinsic motivation. Social environmental factors included lesson content, the physical education teacher, classmates, and school athletic facilities, as well as physical activity behaviors of the family and family encouragement, participation in out-of-school athletic activities, media, cultural values and social preconceptions. Conclusions. A wide variety of social factors influence students’ intrinsic motivation in physical education. These need to be taken into account when designing physical education lessons.  2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Self-Talk: It Works, but How? Development and Preliminary Validation of the Functions of Self-Talk Questionnaire

The aim of this investigation was to develop an instrument assessing the functions of self-talk (ST) in sports. Two studies were conducted for the development of the Functions of Self-Talk Questionnaire (FSTQ). In the first study, a prospective instrument was developed based on empirical evidence and a series of preliminary exploratory factor analysis. The results supported a five-dimensional 25-item solution. In the second study, the psychometric properties of the new questionnaire were tested. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed the hypothesized factor structure of the FSTQ. Furthermore, reliability analyses provided further evidence regarding the psychometric integrity of the instrument. The results of the study provide preliminary evidence regarding the multidimensionality of ST functions, suggesting that ST in sports can serve to enhance attentional focus, increase confidence, regulate effort, control cognitive and emotional reactions, and trigger automatic execution. The FSTQ seems a psychometrically sound instrument that could help with enhancing our understanding regarding the use and effectiveness of ST.

SELF-TALK IN A BASKETBALL-SHOOTING TASK '

This study examined the effectiveness of two different types of self-talk on the performance of a basketball-shooting task. 60 physical education and sports sciences students were organized into one control and two treatment groups which used self-talk. During the experiment, the control group performed with the general instructions, whereas the self-talk groups used the cue-words “relax” and “fast,” respectively. Analysis showed that only the participants of the self-talk group who used the word “relax” improved their performance significantly as compared to the other two groups. It appears that self-talk can positively affect performance if its content is appropriate for the task performed.

Physically Active Students' Intentions and Self-Efficacy towards Healthy Eating:

This study investigated intentions and self-efficacy of physically active university students towards healthy eating. The application of Planned Behavior theory has shown that attitudes, intention, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms play an important role in shaping peoples behavior. 96 students, who participated in physical activities, voluntarily completed the Questionnaire for the Planned Behavior Model and the Health Behavior Questionnaire. The former examines attitudes, intentions, perceived behavioral control, and the lately added attitude strength, and role identity towards the behavior factors. The latter assesses ones efficacy expectations towards healthy eating. The regression showed strong associations between the examined variables, signifying that attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and role identity could account for ones intention towards healthy eating behaviors. On the other hand, ones self-efficacy for healthy eating could be explained from the attitudes, intention, perceived behavioral control, and attitude strength held. Overall, systematic participation in physical activities appeared to be accompanied with a relatively healthier diet, while self-efficacy had a significant association with maintaining the healthy eating behaviors. Possible interpretations, limitations, and implications for health professionals are discussed.

Sexual harassment in sport toward females in three European countries

This article presents data from a cross-cultural study titled ‘Gender Relations in Sport — The Experiences of Czech, Greek, and Norwegian Female Sport Students’. The main research question asked is: what are the amounts and the forms of male and female sexual harassment experienced in a sport setting by female sport students in Czech Republic, Greece, and Norway? Women (N = 616) who were studying in sport departments of academic institutions in the three countries participated in the study. The results show that 34 percent of the students had experienced sexually harassing behavior from a man and 12 percent from a woman. Experiences of sexually harassing behaviors from both men and women were reported more often in the Czech Republic and Greece than in Norway.The form of sexual harassment the participants reported experiencing the most was ‘repeated unwanted sexual glances, etc.’ (22%). The difference between female and male harassment is discussed in relation to patriarchal power. The overall differences between countries are discussed in relation to the three countries’ gender orders, gender equality laws as well as the anti-sexual harassment laws inside and outside sport organizations.

The Experiences of Sexual Harassment in Sport and Education among European Female Sports Science Students.

The study investigates whether sport is an especially risky environment for sexual harassment to occur. It explores female students’ experiences of sexual harassment in organized sport and compares them with their experiences in formal education, by addressing the following research questions: (1) Are there any differences in female sport students’ experiences of sexual harassment in sport and education? (2) Are there any differences in female sport students’ experiences of sexual harassment from coaches and teachers? (3) Are there any differences in female sport students’ experiences from peer students and peer athletes? A total of 616 female students from three different European countries, Czech Republic, Greece and Norway, answered a questionnaire. The results revealed that the students had experienced more sexual harassment in an educational setting than in a sport setting. Further analysis showed that this was primarily due to sexual harassment from peers in school. In Greece and Norway, there was no difference between occurrences from teachers and coaches, yet in Czech Republic coaches appear to harass more than teachers. The difference between sexual harassment occurring from peers in sport and in education is discussed in relation to whether the sense of belonging/camaraderie that a sport club member may experience might function as a barrier for sexual harassment to occur—because it embarrasses or hurts a teammate. In addition, sport clubs and teams are governed by their respective sport rules and possibly by additional club/team rules, which may also establish extra inside-club/team boundaries for acceptable and nonacceptable/harassing behaviors. This article concludes that greater emphasis ought to be placed on education; not only toward shaping safer teacher/coach behaviors, but also toward the student/athlete behaviors.

Pre-Competition Anxiety and In-Competition Coping in Experienced Male Swimmers

The purpose of the present study was to explore relationships between pre-competition anxiety and in-competition coping in swimmers. Thirty nine male swimmers with international competitive experience participated in the study (mean age 19.72 years; mean competitive experience 9.36 years). Participants completed a short measure of anxiety intensity and direction before the start of their event and a coping questionnaire after the completion of their event. Correlation analysis showed that intensity of cognitive anxiety had low to moderate negative correlations with approach coping strategies, and low to moderate positive relationships with avoidance coping strategies. Furthermore, somatic anxiety intensity had low to moderate positive relationships with avoidance strategies. Finally analysis of variance revealed that swimmers perceiving their anxiety states as facilitative reported more approach and less avoidance coping strategies than swimmers perceiving their anxiety states as debilitative. In accordance with previous evidence from the sport anxiety literature the results suggest that facilitative perceptions of anxiety symptoms relate to more adaptive cognitive and behavioural outcomes. Coaches should therefore place emphasis on not only the regulation of anxiety intensity, but also the way swimmers perceive anxiety symptoms

The Effects of Motivational Self-Talk on Self-Efficacy and Performance in Novice Undergraduate Students

The Effects of Motivational Self-Talk on Self-Efficacy and Performance in Novice Undergraduate Students The study of self-talk in sport has provided evidence on a few of the effects of self-talk on task performance. However, one of the issues which remains unclear in the self-talk literature is the matching of task’s motor demands with the different types of self-talk cues, the so called matching hypothesis. The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of motivational self-talk on students’ selfefficacy levels and on their performance in a precision-oriented task. Forty-four (Mage = 20.93, SD = 2.31) physical education undergraduate students with no experience in dart throwing (22 females and 22 males) were randomly assigned into two groups: the experimental group that used motivational self-talk and the control group. A baseline and two performance trials were performed. Mixed model ANOVAs revealed group by time interaction for selfefficacy (p<0.05). Post-hoc analysis showed that self-efficacy in the motivational self-talk group increased significantly (p<0.001), whereas the self-efficacy of the control group had no significant changes. Furthermore, no significant differences were found in the performance scores between the experimental and the control group. The fact that only self-efficacy levels changed over time, whereas the performance levels didn’t, is discussed based on thecontradictory findings of the matching hypothesis.

Onsite coping in novice climbers as a function of hardiness and self-efficacy.

Abstract The present study investigated the coping strategies used by novice climbers as a function of hardiness and self-efficacy Thirty physical education university students participated in a two-week climbing training program. Hardiness was assessed before the initiation of the training program, self-efficacy prior to the post-training climbing assessment, and coping strategies after the post-training climbing assessment. Two-way MANOVA revealed significant effects of hardiness on ‘cognitive engagement’ and ‘effort increase’, and a significant interaction between hardiness and self-efficacy on ‘behavioural disengagement’. The results of the study suggest that the coping approach should be further examined as a function of both individual and situational characteristics.