The effect of nostalgia on self-continuity,pride, and intention to visit a sport team's hometown

ABSTRACT

The primary purpose of the current study was to develop a theoretical model regarding nostalgia, self-continuity, pride, and the intention to visit a sport team's hometown and examine the moderating effect of length of time as a sport fan. The study involved showing a short nostalgic video clip and investigated relationships using structural equation modeling (SEM) and multigroup SEM. The results suggest that self-continuity is an important indicator of the relationship between nostalgia and pride and enhances the intention to visit a sport team's hometown. The results also showed that self-continuity is an important indicator for new fans but not for long-term fans.     

Managing co-creation in professional sports: The antecedents and consequences of ritualized spectator behavior

Ritual behaviors connected to sporting events and teams are a commonplace example of ‘co-creation’. While largely positive, some of these ritual behaviors can be against team and public interests. This raises the issue of if, and how, teams should seek to manage rituals. This paper reports on two studies of sports fans undertaken to examine: (a) how widespread ritual behavior is; (b) how rituals form and why; and (c) the relationship between engagement in ritual behavior and other desirable attitudes and behaviors. The main findings are that ritualized behaviors are very common, largely fan-developed, and can form very quickly. A positive relationship was found to exist between ritual behavior and outcomes such as satisfaction, team identification, merchandize expenditure and game attendance. Longitudinal tracking of individual fans suggests that ritual behaviors drive those outcomes, rather than the inverse.     

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.     

积极心理学对体育运动心理学研究的启示

积极心理学是20世纪末兴起于美国的一种积极思潮,与传统心理学相比,它更关注人的美德、潜力、力量等积极品质。积极心理学的观点正在全世界范围传播,它引起了心理学界的广泛关注。本研究结合积极心理学的相关内容,分析了积极心理学运动对体育运动心理学的三大研究领域的可能的启示,旨在为体育运动心理学研究提供参考。     

Leadership in governance: Exploring collective board leadership in sport governance systems

The purpose of this paper is to introduce and explore a working conceptualisation of collective board leadership in a federal sport network. In this paper, the authors examine the relationship between collective leadership and governance systems specifically within the non-profit sport organisation context, bringing together notions of collective board leadership and collaborative governance. Neither concept has yet been presented in tandem for the benefit of developing sport governance knowledge and practice. As an outcome of the conceptualising, the authors make explicit the multiple levels of the sport governance system and pose two broad research directions that will help advance theory and drive a better understanding of collective board leadership within these types of governance systems. A central premise of this paper is that the sport management field is lacking literature that brings together leadership and governance, and that collective leadership is a topic where the intersection of leadership and governance renders advancement for both bodies of work. The authors offer implications for future work in collective leadership for sport governance.     

Psychological support for sport coaches: an exploration of practitioner psychologist perspectives

In the present study we add to the literature by exploring the degree to which UK practitioner psychologists perceive themselves able to support sport coaches, and how professional training prepares psychologists for coach work across performance domains. Ten participants comprising seven sport and exercise psychologists with Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) practitioner psychologist status and three trainee psychologists studying towards the British Psychological Society (BPS) qualification in sport and exercise psychology (QSEP) were individually interviewed. All participants reported prior experience of working with coaches across all performance domains. We explored: practitioner’s understanding of the challenges coaches face within their job; practitioner’s experiences of coach work; perspectives about the ways in which practitioners could and should support coaches; and, the degree to which professional training prepares practitioners for coach work. Using recommended procedures of Connelly and Peltzer, content analysis revealed practitioners perceived the challenges faced by coaches are different at grassroots level compared to those working with elite athletes, and that practitioners require skills to provide one-to-one coach support and group-based interventions. All practitioners perceived that training programmes do not adequately equip trainees with skills required for coach work. We discuss the implications for enhancing practitioner training in the UK.     

Exploring the relationship between hope and burnout in competitive sport

Abstract

Researchers have postulated that hope may be an important factor associated with burnout. Consistent with hope theory contentions, low-hope individuals may be susceptible to burnout because they are prone to experience goal blockage, frustration, and negative affect, all of which likely increase the risk of burnout. We examined the relationship between hope and athlete burnout among 178 competitive athletes (63 females and 115 males) aged 15–20 years. Hope was significantly and negatively correlated with all three burnout subscales: emotional/physical exhaustion, a reduced sense of accomplishment, and sport devaluation. Moreover, results of a multivariate analysis of variance showed that low-hope athletes scored significantly higher than medium- and high-hope athletes on all three burnout dimensions. Finally, results revealed that agency thinking was a significant predictor of all burnout dimensions. Frustration over unmet goals and a perceived lack of agency, a characteristic of low-hope athletes, might pose a risk factor in athlete burnout, whereas being able to maintain hope appears to be associated with health and well-being.     

Theory and practice in sport psychology and motor behaviour needs to be constrained by integrative modelling of brain and behaviour

Because of advances in technology, the non-invasive study of the human brain has enhanced the knowledge base within the neurosciences, resulting in an increased impact on the psychological study of human behaviour. We argue that application of this knowledge base should be considered in theoretical modelling within sport psychology and motor behaviour alongside existing ideas. We propose that interventions founded on current theoretical and empirical understanding in both psychology and the neurosciences may ultimately lead to greater benefits for athletes during practice and performance. As vehicles for exploring the arguments of a greater integration of psychology and neurosciences research, imagery and perception–action within the sport psychology and motor behaviour domains will serve as exemplars. Current neuroscience evidence will be discussed in relation to theoretical developments; the implications for sport scientists will be considered.     

Managing sport for health: An introduction to the special issue

Sport is often viewed as vehicle to achieve positive health outcomes. While sport's potential to contribute to health is rarely disputed, sport is not always managed in ways that specifically prioritise health objectives, and evidence regarding sport's contribution to health has been inconsistent to date. This special issue was designed to advance a research agenda in relation to the management of sport for health. Articles published in the special issue examine sport management practices that impact health, both positively and negatively. The authors identified three overarching themes, with respect to how sport can be managed towards the achievement of health outcomes: sport should be aligned with community needs and should be empowering; sport should be adaptable and evolving to ensure sport culture values health; and, sport organisations should leverage partnership for health to promote organisational sustainability. In future research, scholars are encouraged to further examine the three identified themes and expand on other findings presented in the special issue, towards a stronger evidence base in relation to the management of sport for health. Opportunities exist to continue to advance knowledge regarding the potential for management strategies, models, and practices to lead to positive-and importantly, negatives-health outcomes through sport. If sport management scholars and practitioners are to meaningfully contribute to health agendas, health objectives must play a central role in reshaping sport systems and strategies toward the achievement of such outcomes.     

An investigation of the five-factor model of personality and coping behaviour in sport

Abstract

Coping strategies are important for performance in sport and individual differences may contribute to the coping strategies adopted by athletes. In this study, we explored the main and interactive effects of the big five personality dimensions on sport-related coping and compared personality profiles of discrete groups of athletes. Altogether, 253 athletes (mean age 21.1 years, s = 3.7) completed the NEO-FFI (Costa & McCrae, 1992 Costa, P. T. and McCrae, R. R. 1992. Revised NEO personality inventory and NEO five-factor inventory: Professional manual, Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.  [Google Scholar]), and the Coping Function Questionnaire for Sport (Kowalski & Crocker, 2001 Kowalski, K. C. and Crocker, P. R. E. 2001. Development and validation of the Coping Function Questionnaire for adolescents in sport. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 23: 136–155. [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Results showed that extraverted athletes, who were also emotionally stable and open to new experiences (a three-way interaction effect), reported a greater use of problem-focused coping strategies. Conscientious athletes (main effect), and athletes displaying high levels of extraversion, openness, and agreeableness (a three-way interaction effect), reported a greater use of emotion-focused coping strategies, and athletes with low levels of openness, or high levels of neuroticism (main effects), reported a greater use of avoidance coping strategies. Different personality characteristics were observed between higher-level and lower-level athletes, between men and women athletes, and between individual and team sport athletes. These findings suggest that the five-factor model of personality can help distinguish various levels of athletic involvement and can help identify the coping strategies athletes are likely to adopt during participation.     

The use of the Vienna Test System in sport psychology research: A review

ABSTRACT

This article seeks to provide a comprehensive review of existing literature relating to the use of the Vienna Test System (VTS) in sport psychology research. A comprehensive search of major databases such as SPORTDiscus, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar yielded 22 studies related to the topic of interest. The results showed that VTS was used to compare athletes and non-athletes, as well as athletes from different sports and levels. It was also used to investigate the effect of certain factors on athlete cognitive performance, to induce ego depletion in athletes, and was shown to be a reliable and valid measure of coordinated motor abilities. The review demonstrates that VTS is a useful objective measure of various psychological constructs, and can be used to complement existing subjective measures in the field. There is great potential in using VTS to provide both researchers and applied sport psychologists with valuable information to aid them in their work with athletes, and future research should aim to identify VTS tests that are relevant to each particular sport.     

Applying the tourist area life cycle within sport tourism: the case of Stellenbosch and German athletes

The popular tourist town of Stellenbosch in South Africa has long been a favoured training destination for European athletes during the northern hemisphere winter months. This paper considers the case study of German athletes – one of the most prominent groups to train in Stellenbosch since the early 1990s. The analysis involves the application of the concept of the Tourist Area Life Cycle (TALC) to the town’s sport tourism offering. In this regard Stellenbosch continues to experience notable demographic changes, not all of which are related to tourism. The impact of these changes is considered in the context of the factors which have historically made the town a sought-after destination for high performance athletics training camps. Consequently this paper offers an analysis of Stellenbosch’s current and future attractiveness as far as this particular dimension of sport tourism is concerned. This is an important consideration given the availability of alternative training destinations both in South Africa and internationally.     

Managing abuse in sport: An introduction to the special issue

This special issue was designed to advance a research agenda focussed on the management of abuse in sport. Despite progress in the field, greater attention to the structures, policies, processes, practices, and sites in which abuse occurs is required. As such, there is a need for evidence-based solutions to improve the management of abuse and integrity in sport. The authors identified five overarching themes across the 12 papers included within the special issue: the harms and legacies of abuse; abuse in mediated environments; abuse of referees; frameworks that sustain abuse; and safeguarding. The articles included in this issue highlight the complexity of abuse in sporting spaces, the impact it can have on victims and the challenges faced in appropriately managing sporting spaces toward the reduction of harm. This special issue is driven by the authors’ desire to promote integrity and enrich the sporting experience for all, with the hope of driving further research into the management of abuse and integrity in sport.     

The role of sport in community capacity building: An examination of sport for development research and practice

Population health promotion and preventing disease remain important global policy goals. Because of the complex nature of health, and the recognition of the limits of individual-oriented health promotion strategies, recent decades have seen increased interest by public health researchers and practitioners in community-level approaches to health promotion. Increasingly, community-level approaches have been based upon the theoretical concept of community capacity. Community capacity is seen as a critical mechanism for supporting and promoting community-level health and through the sport for development (SFD) model, there is evidence of sport being an important practice for community development. However, little is known about the potential role of sport as a mechanism for building community capacity. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to examine the efficacy of sport to contribute to the process of community capacity building. Using seven established dimensions of community capacity, there is evidence that many SFD practices can effectively facilitate dimensions of community capacity when conducted in intentional, culturally relevant ways. Specifically, sport has demonstrated efficacy in building local skills, knowledge, and resources, increasing social cohesion, facilitating structures and mechanisms for community dialog, leadership development, and encouraging civic participation. More research is needed to understand sport's ability to promote capacity building through collective action, developing value systems that support democracy and inclusion, and encouraging critical reflection. To increase the usefulness of sport to support community health development, SFD principles should be included as part of sport management university curricula. Additionally, practitioners need grounding in community and human development research to support non-sport components of programs. Finally, participatory action research techniques should be used by researchers and practitioners. Sport-based development often generates high interest from residents, funders, and policy makers. By applying principles of community capacity building, sport may be uniquely positioned to enhance sustainable community health development initiatives.     

运动心理学在残疾人体育领域中的应用研究综述

从心理技能训练、心境状态、焦虑、心理健康和研究方法等方面对国内外运动心理学在残疾人体育领域中的应用研究进行了综述。     

Leader prototypicality in sport: The implicit leadership theories of women and men entering sport management careers

Implicit leadership theories (ILTs) matter because they are used as the benchmark against which people determine who is a leader and who is not. This assessment informs their behavioral responses. People are thought to have a superordinate-level ILT representing their prototypical mental model of leadership and a series of basic-level ILTs. Each of these represents how people conceptualize leadership in particular domains (e.g., sport, politics, and popular culture). In this study, the authors generate the structures of basic-level sport management ILTs for women and men who are about to enter this industry. These form the baseline from which socialization to work, organizational cultures, and the sport management industry begins. The ILTs of women entering sport management careers have a 35-item, 6-factor structure (Sensitivity, Knowledgeable, Physical Attractiveness, Inspirational, Dedication, and Focused), whereas men entering the industry have a 32-item, 7-factor structure (Sensitivity, Dedication, Physical Attractiveness, Focused, Creativity, Inspirational, Courageous). The resulting sport management ILT profiles differ from superordinate ones by emphasizing physical and vitality attributes, incorporating emotional elements, and by eschewing antiprototypical elements. The paper ends with a discussion of the implications for leadership research in sport management.     

The conventions of sport clubs: enabling and constraining the implementation of social goods through sport

In order to shed light on the possibilities for using sport as a vehicle for the realization of social goods—understood as sport having a wider social role—this paper scrutinizes Norwegian sport clubs. The study is guided by the concept of convention, which refers to individuals’ cognitive structures, and to social structure. Three sport clubs were investigated and three qualitative methods, including document analysis, observation and interviews, were employed. First, in the results section, the main sport convention is identified as being competitiveness. Secondly, it is argued that as a consequence of the main convention for sport there are limited possibilities for the realization of social goods such as health. The possibilities of sports clubs combining the convention of competitiveness with others is discussed, considering the former as substantial for practice and discussing whether the latter is mere rhetoric.     

Advances in the application of information technology to sport performance

This paper overviews the diverse information technologies that are used to provide athletes with relevant feedback. Examples taken from various sports are used to illustrate selected applications of technology-based feedback. Several feedback systems are discussed, including vision, audition and proprioception. Each technology described here is based on the assumption that feedback would eventually enhance skill acquisition and sport performance and, as such, its usefulness to athletes and coaches in training is critically evaluated.     

Urban sportscapes: An environmental deterministic perspective on the management of youth sport participation

This paper examines sport participation from an environmental perspective by considering the dynamic role of the sportscape (built-form and supporting infrastructure) in enabling, facilitating and promoting youth sport participation. Complementing recent work by Wicker et al. (2013), we conduct a case study of the ‘geography of sport’ in the Greater Toronto Area. In the process we introduce the concept of facility ‘gravitas’ to capture the attractiveness or ‘magnetism’ of sportscape entities and thereby acknowledge the multifaceted sets of environmental factors (including the bricks-and-mortar of facilities and the supporting mechanisms such as transportation, coaches and clubs) that influence sport participation. The results demonstrate that the geography of sport is not only about where sport venue built-forms are located, but also what types of sport infrastructure are available. To develop a better understanding of sport participation it is important to assess the capacity and quality of the sportscape along with other supporting structures and facilitators. The paper points to the implications for managers and policy makers from this perspective.     

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.