How Should We Measure Psychological Resilience in Sport Performers?

Psychological resilience is important in sport because athletes must constantly withstand a wide range of pressures to attain and sustain high performance. To advance psychologists’ understanding of this area, there exists an urgent need to develop a sport-specific measure of resilience. The purpose of this article is to review psychometric issues in resilience research and to discuss the implications for sport psychology. Drawing on the wider general psychology literature to inform the discussion, the narrative is divided into three main sections relating to resilience and its assessment: adversity, positive adaptation, and protective factors. The first section reviews the different ways that adversity has been measured and considers the potential problems of using items with varying degrees of controllability and risk. The second section discusses the different approaches to assessing positive adaptation and examines the issue of circularity pervasive in resilience research. The final section explores the various issues related to the assessment of protective factors drawing directly from current measures of resilience in other psychology sub-disciplines. The commentary concludes with key recommendations for sport psychology researchers seeking to develop a measure of psychological resilience in athletes.     

Psychometric Issues in Organizational Stressor Research: A Review and Implications for Sport Psychology

Organizational stressors can potentially elicit a number of undesirable consequences for sport performers. It is, therefore, imperative that psychologists better understand the demands that athletes encounter via their exploration and assessment. However, although researchers have identified a wide range of organizational stressors in competitive sport, they have yet to develop a measure or indicator to assess them. In contrast, scholars in other psychology subdisciplines have designed measures of organizational-related stressors, which have the potential to inform the advancement of stress research in sport. The purpose of this article is, therefore, to review psychometric issues in organizational stressor research and discuss the implications for sport psychology. The narrative is divided into four main areas: conceptual and theoretical issues, item development issues, measurement and scoring issues, and analytical and statistical issues.     

Teamwork in sport: a theoretical and integrative review

A commonly held belief in sports is the need for team members to be able to work well together in order for that team to be successful. Despite this assumption, research in the field of sport psychology has yet to formally or sufficiently conceptualize what is meant by teamwork. In this theoretical and integrative review, we draw from the extant organizational psychology and team development literature to present a multidimensional conceptual framework of teamwork in sport. We provide a working definition of teamwork in sport and discuss how teamwork sits within a broader model of team effectiveness. We conclude by providing an overview of salient research avenues on teamwork and team effectiveness in sport, which have potential implications for guiding interventions with sports teams.     

运动心理咨询的态度与选择:基于运动员的视角

基于运动员的视角对运动员寻求运动心理咨询态度的测评、约束因素（个体与环境）和运动心理咨询的提升策略进行归纳与分析,研究认为,性别、种族、人格以及先前的运动心理咨询经历等个体因素,以及对运动心理咨询师的评价、文化与国籍、运动项目类型与运动水平等环境因素是运动员对运动心理咨询态度和选择的主要制约因素。运动心理咨询的有效性、良好的运动员-运动心理咨询师关系、个性化的咨询方案是改善运动员对运动心理咨询态度及选择运动心理咨询的重要手段。     

运动心理学的跨文化研究

这篇论文由4个部分组成。第1部分说明了在运动心理学领域中缺乏跨文化的研究;第2部分回顾了在动作技能形成和运动活动、参与竞技运动、娱乐活动等方面人种或种族差异的现代研究工作;第3部分讨论了在运动心理学领域中进行跨文化分析的重要性;第4部分叙述了在该领域中跨文化研究的方法问题。     

Positive emotion in sport performance: current status and future directions

Emotions have firmly established their place in sport psychology research over the past 40 years. For many decades following World War II, mainstream psychology researchers placed negative emotions (e.g., anxiety) ahead of positive emotions (e.g., happiness) but positive emotions are now a genuine, promising field of research because of their influence on specific components of performance (e.g., attention) and psychological well-being. The benefits of these emotions have hitherto not been wholly realized in a sport context, especially in their capacity to generate greater self-efficacy, motivation, attention, problem-solving, and coping with adversity. Although the sport emotion literature is sprinkled with studies that specifically examined positive emotion in sport settings, the breadth and depth of this research is too thin to make bold claims about the value of positive emotions in the emotion-performance relation. There are, however, at least three theoretical models available to sport psychologists to better understand the influence of positive emotions on sport performance and two of these models are specifically designed for sport contexts. Not only can these models deepen and widen this knowledge base, but they can also support interventions in applied settings to improve performance and psychological well-being.     

The antecedents and consequences of positive organizational behavior: The role of psychological capital for promoting employee well-being in sport organizations

A positive approach to addressing mental health issues in workplaces advocates the examination of an untapped resource—psychological capital—as a potential positive construct in contemporary organizational behavior. The authors tested various antecedents and outcomes of psychological capital, and examined the role of this construct in psychological well-being and job satisfaction among sport employees. To test 11 hypotheses, the researchers recruited 708 employees from the athletic departments of Division I institutions. Results indicate that the meaningful work of employees and a supportive organizational climate positively influenced psychological capital, thereby leading to high levels of job satisfaction and psychological well-being. Psychological capital also functioned either as a partial mediator or as a full mediator. In this study, the authors offer a new perspective on sport employees’ mental health outcomes, with particular emphasis on positive organizational behavior in sport settings.     

A model of the relationship among sport consumer motives,spectator commitment,and behavioral intentions

The concept of commitment in sport marketing has largely been regarded as unidimensional. In the broader study of organizational behavior, commitment has been studied as a multidimensional construct. The multiple dimensions of commitment construe that one's behavior can be conveyed by different psychological states, comparable to those found to characterize different forms of commitment. The multidimensional perspective appears to yield more detailed and relevant information regarding a consumer's commitment in predicting specific behaviors. In past decades, a variety of researchers in organizational psychology and organizational behavior have investigated the relationship between motivation and commitment in order to better understand the two processes and their impact on behavior. However, there have been few attempts to integrate the two domains in order to demonstrate how motives and commitment combine to influence sport consumer behavior. Accordingly, a model of commitment and its relationship to sport consumer motives (i.e., antecedent) and behavioral intentions (i.e., consequence) is proposed.     

体育运动领域情绪研究述评

在对体育运动领域中情绪研究进行归纳和分析后,认为体育运动领域中情绪研究的基本特征是:重消极情绪研究,轻积极情绪研究;重主观评价,轻客观评价;重个体情绪,轻团队情绪;重运动员研究,轻教练员研究。同时,对体育运动领域未来情绪研究进行了展望:积极情绪应作为体育运动领域中消极情绪研究的补充;团队情绪应成为体育社会心理学中的一个重要研究问题;情绪评价应结合现代认知神经科学研究方法与技术。     

应用运动心理学实践有效性评估

对已有应用运动心理学实践服务有效性评估相关文献进行总结,同时结合笔者应用服务实践工作中的一些经验及思考,对应用运动心理学实践服务有效性评估进行讨论.日的是为强调应用运动心理学实践服务中有效性评估的重要性.作者希望文中的一些信息可以为中国的应用运动心理学实践者们提供一些参考,更重要的是能够引起业内人士对实践服务有效性评估的重视,以及引发更多对有效性评估方法的探讨和讨论.     

运动心理测量研究进展(2008-2011)

对2008-2011年初国内外运动心理测量的研究进行系统的梳理和文献学分析.结果表明:(1)心理测量的方法并不过时,仍是运动心理学研究的主要方法之一;(2)国外学者运用心理测量法研究的比例高于我国学者;(3)新编或新修量表仍以竞技运动心理为主,锻炼心理次之,体育心理较少,我国学者相对更重视体育心理测量工具的研发;(4)国外学者相对更为重视竞技心理的研究,而我国学者更为重视锻炼心理领域的研究;(5)中外心理测量研究的水平相当,量表研究的质量参差不齐.为迸一步提高我国量表研修的质量,提出以下建议:(1)尽力提供更多的信效度参数,努力提升数据的质量;(2)量表研究的理论基础应该加强;(3)充分发挥因子分析的作用,统计参数的表达应更加规范;(4)更多地以积极心理学为导向对心理健康进行测量.     

运动心理学在竞技体育领域的研究发展与应用

相比于大众锻炼领域和体育教育领域,竞技体育受到了运动心理学的更多关注.一系列运动心理干预技术已在北京奥运会上使用,如心理对策库、生物反馈技术、心理影片和音乐、心理网站,专为运动员做心理测试和迅速调整的多功能服务车等.心理领域的领先技术如电脑电图(EEG),事件相关电位(ERP)和电脑象限图(EEQG)等被用于诊断运动员运动时的心理状态或训练效果.通过对近3年发表在重要国家和国际期刊及会议里相关文章的分析发现,运动动机、运动认知、自我认知、运动情绪和心理技能是近年来运动心理学在竞技体育领域的主要研究方向.积极心理学的兴起有丰富的理论和应用领域,也丰富了近代运动心理学的理论和应用领域.运动心理学在20世纪出现许多新思潮,流畅体验便是其中之一.在竞技运动领域,心理监控与运动实践的联系是最紧密的.心理监控也正在向着系统化与专业化的方向一步步迈进,现代技术如CAS计算机辅助运动技术、Observer行为观察分析软件、FaceReader软件、Virtual-Reality仿真系统(虚拟现实)等已经在训练或比赛中得以应用.建议对已取得的运动心理学研究成果可以在未来实践中得到更多的应用.     

A role of team and organizational identification in the success of cause-related sport marketing

As sport marketers are increasingly engaging in cause-related sport marketing (CRSM) programs, there is a growing interest in understanding what CRSM characteristics and circumstances can lead to success. This study extends prior research by examining the direct and moderating impacts of team identification and cause organizational identification on consumer attitudes toward cause related sport marketing (CRSM) programs using intercollegiate sport contexts in the United States. A two groups (high vs. low-fit CRSM messages), between subject, and post-test only experiment (N = 309) denoted that respondents showed more positive attitudes toward high-fit CRSM messages and both team identification and cause organizational identification had different moderating effects of sport/cause fit on attitudes. Fit between a sport team and a cause had a greater impact on attitudes when consumer affinity toward the sport team was more positive. However, fit had little or no impact when consumer affinity toward the cause was positive, but it played a significant and positive role when consumers showed low affinity toward the cause.     

从自由体操与街舞动作特点看运动技能迁移

运动技能的迁移问题是心理学中的一个重要课题。文章根据自由体操和街舞运动之间许多动作相似性的关系,以迁移原理为依据,对自由体操和街舞在运功技能上存在的各种因素进行分析比较,只有充分了解运动项目的本质特点,运用运动技能的正迁移,才能更好地提高训练效果。     

Psychological resilience in sport performers: a review of stressors and protective factors

Abstract

Psychological resilience is important in sport because athletes must utilise and optimise a range of mental qualities to withstand the pressures that they experience. In this article, we discuss psychological resilience in sport performers via a review of the stressors athletes encounter and the protective factors that help them withstand these demands. It is hoped that synthesising what is known in these areas will help researchers gain a deeper profundity of resilience in sport, and also provide a rigorous and robust foundation for the development of a sport-specific measure of resilience. With these points in mind, we divided the narrative into two main sections. In the first section, we review the different types of stressors encountered by sport performers under three main categories: competitive, organisational and personal. Based on our recent research examining psychological resilience in Olympics champions, in the second section we discuss the five main families of psychological factors (viz. positive personality, motivation, confidence, focus, perceived social support) that protect the best athletes from the potential negative effect of stressors. It is anticipated that this review will help sport psychology researchers examine the interplay between stressors and protective factors, which will, in turn, focus the analytical lens on the processes underlying psychological resilience in athletes.     

Knowledge and perceptions of sport psychology within English soccer

The aim of the present study was to examine knowledge and perceptions of applied sport psychology within English soccer. National coaches (n = 8), youth academy directors (n = 21) and academy coaches (n = 27) were surveyed using questionnaire and interview methods. Questionnaire results revealed a lack of knowledge of sport psychology that appeared to underpin some of the most significant barriers to entry for sport psychologists. These included lack of clarity concerning the services of a sport psychologist, problems fitting in and players' negative perceptions of sport psychology. Overall, however, lack of finance was the highest rated barrier. Six barrier dimensions emerged from the interview data: negative perceptions of psychology, lack of sport psychology knowledge, integrating with players and coaching staff, role and service clarity, practical constraints, and perceived value of sport psychology. These findings were broadly compatible with the survey data, with finance emerging as a major barrier and misconceptions of sport psychology being common. Our conclusions are discussed in relation to the practical implications of the study for both applied research and the provision of sport psychology services within English soccer.     

Examining the factors influencing organizational creativity in professional sport organizations

Increasingly, globalization and the adoption of a market economy have made innovation fundamental for the success of professional sport organizations. Yet oligarchical league structures, isomorphic and hyper-traditional cultures, and hierarchical organizational structures can enhance or hinder organizational creativity, the beginning stage of the innovation process. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to determine the antecedents of organizational creativity in professional sport organizations. Perception of organizational creativity is theorized to be influenced by employee creativity, work environment, and the social interactions of employees. The results, based on a survey of three professional sport organizations’ front offices, indicated perceptions of a work environment with a clear vision and better work processes were associated with greater perceptions of organizational creativity. The lack of relationships between many of the factors theorized to influence organizational creativity, such as an employee’s advice network, could indicate the sport industry is unique in creativity management. This study is the beginning in understanding the first step of innovation, and the processes that influence employees’ perceptions regarding the ways in which their work environment relate to organizational creativity.     

The only constant is change: analysing and understanding change in sport and exercise psychology research

The ability to examine within-person change is essential to test process-based theories in sport and exercise psychology. Longitudinal data, whether experimental or observational, are prerequisites to be able to examine change processes, but most longitudinal studies in sport and exercise psychology focus solely on between-person/group differences, not on within-person change. In this review, we (1) provide researchers in the sport and exercise psychology field with a framework for longitudinal research that focuses on within-person change; (2) provide an overview of how researchers in sport and exercise psychology currently analyse longitudinal data, which showed that most longitudinal studies focus on between-person/group differences; and (3) provide examples of statistical models for analysing longitudinal data that correspond to the framework for longitudinal research. In the examples, we focus on latent variable modelling, such as latent growth-curve modelling and latent change-score modelling, which capture within-person change. We argue that there is a need for stronger emphasis on the match among theory of change, temporal design, and statistical models when designing longitudinal studies in sport and exercise psychology.     

Trends and knowledge base in sport and exercise psychology research: a bibliometric review study

Bibliometric methods were used to examine: (1) research themes in sport and exercise psychology articles published between 2008 and 2011; and (2) the intellectual base of the field of sport and exercise psychology, defined as influential literature being cited in these articles. The dataset consisted of 795 articles from five sport and exercise psychology journals and 345 articles obtained through citation-based extension (n = 1140 articles). A cluster analysis yielded 73 clusters showing themes in sport and exercise psychology research. Principal component analysis was used to identify and analyze relationships between 14 highly cited research areas constituting the intellectual base of sport and exercise psychology. Some main findings were: (1) the identification of many re-emerging themes, (2) research related to motivation seems to be extensive, (3) sport psychology and exercise psychology research share theoretical frameworks to some extent, however (4) differences compared to previous reviews indicate that sport psychology and exercise psychology may be regarded as two distinct research fields, rather than one united field, and (5) isolated research areas were identified indicating potential for research integration. Suggestions for future research are provided. The bibliometric approach presented a broad overview of trends and knowledge base in sport and exercise psychology research.