Tim Woodman

The relative impact of cognitive anxiety and self-confidence upon sport performance: a meta-analysis.

This meta-analysis (k = 48) investigated two relationships in competitive sport: (1) state cognitive anxiety with performance and (2) state self-confidence with performance. The cognitive anxiety mean effect size was r = −0.10 (P <0.05). The self-confidence mean effect size was r = 0.24 (P <0.001). A paired-samples t-test revealed that the magnitude of the self-confidence mean effect size was significantly greater than that of the cognitive anxiety mean effect size. The moderator variables for the cognitive anxiety-performance relationship were sex and standard of competition. The mean effect size for men (r = −0.22) was significantly greater than the mean effect size for women (r = −0.03). The mean effect size for high-standard competition (r = −0.27) was significantly greater than that for comparatively low-standard competition (r = −0.06). The significant moderator variables for the self-confidence-performance relationship were sex, standard of competition and measurement. The mean effect size for men (r = 0.29) was significantly greater than that for women (r = 0.04) and the mean effect size for high-standard competition (r = 0.33) was significantly greater than that for low-standard competition (r = 0.16). The mean effect size derived from studies employing the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (r = 0.19) was significantly smaller than the mean effect size derived from studies using other measures of self-confidence (r = 0.38). Measurement issues are discussed and future research directions are offered in light of the results.

A Case Study of Organizational Stress in Elite Sport

This paper is an investigation of organizational stress in elite athletes. Fifteen elite athletes from the UK were interviewed with regard to potential sources of organizational stress in preparation for major international competitions. Four main organizational stress issues were examined: environmental issues, personal issues, leadership issues, and team issues. The main environmental issues that were revealed were: selection, the training environment, and finances. The main personal issues were: nutrition, injury, and goals and expectations. The main leadership issues revealed were: coaches, and coaching styles. The main team issues were: team atmosphere, support network, roles, and communication. The results are presented largely in the form of direct quotes to convey the intricate nature of the issues. The results are discussed in terms of the important practical and theoretical implications of organizational stress in elite sport, particularly for those researchers and practitioners who wish to gain a better understanding of elite performers as they prepare for major international competitions. Also, some possible strategies for coping with organizational stress in elite sport are discussed.

Psychological profiles and emotional regulation characteristics of women engaged in risk-taking sports

Abstract We investigated the psychological profiles and emotional regulation characteristics of women involved in risk-taking sports. The research sample (N=180) consisted of three groups of women engaged in: (1) non-risk sports (N=90); (2) risk-taking sports for leisure purposes (N=53); or (3) risk-taking sports as professionals (N=37). Each participant completed five questionnaires, the Sensation Seeking Scale, the Bem Sex Role Inventory, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, Risk & Excitement Inventory, and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale. The results revealed significant differences between the groups’ profiles. Of particular interest are the differences that exist between the profiles of Group 2 (escape profile, masculine gender identity, and high scores on sensation seeking, impulsivity, alexithymia) and Group 3 (compensation profile, androgynous gender identity, average score on sensation seeking, and low scores on impulsivity, alexithymia). We propose that the professional woman might be considered a model for preventing destructive risk-taking behaviors.

The Great British Medalists Project: A Review of Current Knowledge on the Development of the World’s Best Sporting Talent

The literature base regarding the development of sporting talent is extensive, and includes empirical articles, reviews, position papers, academic books, governing body documents, popular books, unpublished theses and anecdotal evidence, and contains numerous models of talent development. With such a varied body of work, the task for researchers, practitioners and policy makers of generating a clear understanding of what is known and what is thought to be true regarding the development of sporting talent is particularly challenging. Drawing on a wide array of expertise, we address this challenge by avoiding adherence to any specific model or area and by providing a reasoned review across three key overarching topics: (a) the performer; (b) the environment; and (c) practice and training. Within each topic sub-section, we review and calibrate evidence by performance level of the samples. We then conclude each sub-section with a brief summary, a rating of the quality of evidence, a recommendation for practice and suggestions for future research. These serve to highlight both our current level of understanding and our level of confidence in providing practice recommendations, but also point to a need for future studies that could offer evidence regarding the complex interactions that almost certainly exist across domains.

Anxiety‐induced performance catastrophes: Investigating effort required as an asymmetry factor

Two studies are reported that test the hypothesis that previous support for the cusp catastrophe model of anxiety and performance, and the hysteresis effect in particular, could have been due to a complex interaction between cognitive anxiety and effort required rather than between cognitive anxiety and physiological arousal. We used task difficulty to manipulate effort required in a letter transformation task. Experiment 1 (N=32) used high levels of trait anxiety together with a competitive environment to induce state anxiety. Experiment 2 (N=20) used a competitive environment with social pressure and ego threat instructions to induce high levels of worry. Both studies revealed significant three-way interactions as hypothesized with follow-up tests showing some support for the hysteresis hypothesis in Study 1, and strong support for the hysteresis hypothesis in Study 2. The findings support a processing efficiency theory explanation of anxiety-induced performance catastrophes and indicate that two cusp catastrophe models of performance may exist; one that incorporates the interactive effects of cognitive anxiety and physiological arousal upon performance and the other that incorporates the interactive effects of cognitive anxiety and effort required upon performance.

Who Takes Risks in High-Risk Sports? A Typological Personality Approach.

We investigated the risk-taking behaviors of 302 men involved in high-risk sports (downhill skiing, mountaineering, rock climbing, paragliding, or skydiving). The sportsmen were classified using a typological approach to personality based on eight personality types, which were constructed from combinations of neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness. Results showed that personality types with a configuration of low conscientiousness combined with high extraversion and/or high neuroticism (impulsive, hedonistic, insecure) were greater risk-takers. Conversely, personality types with a configuration of high conscientiousness combined with low extraversion and/or high extraversion (skeptic, brooder, entrepreneur) were lower risk-takers. Results are discussed in the context of typology and other approaches to understanding who takes risks in high-risk domains.

Do Performance Strategies Moderate the Relationship Between Personality and Training Behaviors? An Exploratory Study

The aim of the present research was to investigate the relationship between personality traits, performance strategies, and training behaviors. In two studies we distributed the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP), the Test of Performance Strategies-2 (TOPS-2), and the Quality of Training Inventory (QTI) to British gymnasts (n = 93 and n = 71, respectively). The results revealed additive and interactive effects of personality and performance strategies on training behaviors. Conscientiousness and goal-setting each independently predicted quality of preparation, goal-setting moderated the relationship between extraversion and distractibility, and emotional stability and emotional control largely independently predicted coping with adversity. The results suggest that athletes’ personalities and performance strategies should both be considered when attempting to maximize training effectiveness and that performance strategies are sometimes more effective for some people than for others.

Great expectations: different high-risk activities satisfy different motives

Research on peoples motives for engaging in high-risk activities has typically been viewed through the single-focused lens of sensation seeking. We provide evidence that comprehensively challenges that view. First, we develop and confirm the structure of a 3-factor measure of motives: the Sensation Seeking, Emotion Regulation, and Agency Scale (SEAS; Study 1). We then use the SEAS to provide evidence of differential motives for 2 high-risk activities: skydiving and mountaineering. The motive for skydiving is strongly associated with sensation seeking; the motive for mountaineering is strongly associated with emotion regulation and agency but not with sensation seeking (Study 2). We also show that these conclusions cannot be drawn from existing measures of personality and sensation seeking (Study 3). Finally, individuals who are motivated by emotion regulation and agency needs also have greater expectations regarding their emotion regulation and agency. It is these greater expectations that most successfully discriminate mountaineers from skydivers and control participants (Study 4). It is concluded that researchers should no longer consider risk takers as a homogenous sensation-seeking group and that they should consider risk taking as a potential model of human endeavor. The SEAS can be used as a measure of motives for behavior whenever sensation seeking, agency, or emotion regulation is thought to be at the core of such motives, and the results are discussed in the context of encouraging personality researchers to consider the specific spontaneous behaviors that motivate different people.

Alexithymia determines the anxiety experienced in skydiving

BACKGROUND High-risk activities have typically been explored within a sensation seeking framework. They may, however, allow those with emotional difficulties to experience and regulate their emotions. METHODS Skydivers (n=87) completed anxiety and heart rate data four times on a single day before and after a skydive. RESULTS A 2 (group: alexithymic; non alexithymic) x 4 (time) ANOVA with repeated measures on the second factor revealed a significant alexithymia x time interaction, F(2.27, 192.60)=45.48, p<.001, eta(2)=.35. Anxiety fluctuated significantly more for alexithymic skydivers than it did for their non alexithymic counterparts. This interaction was not mirrored by heart rate. The relationship between alexithymia and anxiety remained significant when accounting for sensation seeking. LIMITATIONS The results leave open interpretations that are based on anhedonia, which was not controlled for. CONCLUSIONS Alexithymic individuals may find, in the high-risk domain, an environment that satisfies their emotion regulation needs.

Where’s the Emotion? How Sport Psychology Can Inform Research on Emotion in Human Factors

Objective: The aim of this study was to demonstrate how research on emotion in sport psychology might inform the field of human factors. Background: Human factors historically has paid little attention to the role of emotion within the research on human-system relations. The theories, methods, and practices related to research on emotion within sport psychology might be informative for human factors because fundamentally, sport psychology and human factors are applied fields concerned with enhancing performance in complex, real-world domains. Method: Reviews of three areas of theory and research on emotion in sport psychology are presented, and the relevancy of each area for human factors is proposed: (a) emotional preparation and regulation for performance, (b) an emotional trait explanation for risk taking in sport, and (c) the link between emotion and motor behavior. Finally, there are suggestions for how to continue cross-talk between human factors and sport psychology about research on emotion and related topics in the future. Results: The relevance of theory and research on emotion in sport psychology for human factors is demonstrated. Conclusion: The human factors field and, in particular, research on human-system relations may benefit from a consideration of theory and research on emotion in sport psychology. Application: Theories, methods, and practices from sport psychology might be applied usefully to human factors.