Humanistic Theory in Sport, Performance, and Sports Coaching Psychology

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca K. Dickinson ◽  
Tristan J. Coulter ◽  
Clifford J. Mallett
Keyword(s):  
Positive Psychology ◽  
Human Performance ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Sport Performance ◽  
Performance Outcomes ◽  
Human Flourishing ◽  
Human Welfare ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Sports Coaching

As a basic psychological framework, humanistic theory emphasizes a strong interest in human welfare, values, and dignity. It involves the study and understanding of the unique whole person and how people can reach a heightened sense of self through the process of self-actualization. The focus within humanism to encourage and foster people to be “all they can be” and develop a true sense of self links to a strengths-based approach in sports coaching and the defining principles of positive psychology. In the field of sport and performance psychology, positive psychology has been influential as a discipline concerned with the optimal functioning and human flourishing of performers. Since the 2000s, many sport and performance psychologists have embraced positive psychology as a theoretical basis for examining consistent and superior human performance. However, in the modern history of psychological science, positive psychology is not a new phenomenon; rather, it stems from humanism—the traditional “third wave” in psychology (after the dominance of psychoanalytic and behaviorist approaches). Sport is recognized as a potentially influential context through which people at all levels and backgrounds can thrive. The tendency to focus on performance outcomes, however—winning and losing—often overshadows the potential of sport to achieve this aspirational goal. As evidence of this view, many high-performing athletes are commenting on their distressing experiences to reach the top and the “culture of fear” they have been exposed to as they pursue their own and others’ (e.g., institutional) ambitions (e.g., medaling at the Olympic Games). Humanism concerns itself with the quality of a person’s life, which includes, but also extends beyond such objective and classifying achievements. It is a person-centered approach to understanding the individual and his or her psychological, emotional, and behavioral reality. It seeks to help people define this reality more clearly in such a way that will help them feel good and perform at a high level. Humanism has been, therefore, an important school of thought for improving the lives and experiences of people who play sport as well as those who perform in various other contexts.

scholarly journals Archery: Emotion Intensity Regulation to Stay in the Zone during Olympic Competition

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 70
Author(s):  
Jolly Roy ◽  
Edin Suwarganda
Keyword(s):  
Sport Performance ◽  
Performance Outcomes ◽  
Performance Score ◽  
Performance Outcome ◽  
Individual Zone ◽  
Emotion Intensity ◽  
Target Set ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Individual

<p>Understanding emotional influence that affect sport performance in archery helps to design the appropriate intervention in athlete’s preparation. The present study examined the effect of emotion intensity from four Olympic level recurve archers on error scores and performance outcomes; compared individual emotion intensities of three competing archers during Olympic competition with previously established individual optimal zone; and examined the influence of being “in or out of individual zone” relating the archer’s achievement with the individual target set by the coach and performance outcome during Olympic competition. The results revealed that unpleasant dysfunctional emotion (N-) had the most influence on performance score. The in-out of zone results derived from the archers data lend support to emotion-performance relationship.</p>

Developing Athletes in the Context of Sport and Performance Psychology

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luc J. Martin ◽  
David J. Hancock ◽  
Jean Côté
Keyword(s):  
Social Environment ◽  
Physical Environment ◽  
Developmental Process ◽  
Sport Performance ◽  
Performance Psychology ◽  
The Social ◽  
Early Specialization ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Athletic Development

Talent development in sport is achieved through years of preparation and requires constant interaction between personal and contextual resources. Accordingly, extensive research has been dedicated to understanding factors that contribute to sport performance. Literature suggests the factors influencing athletic development can be classified in terms of the physical environment, the social environment, and engaging learning activities. Investigations pertaining to the physical environment suggest the importance of appropriate settings, which can relate to the sport organization or the larger community. Researchers must also cogitate the activities in which athletes take part. These considerations involve the maturational status of athletes, the volume of deliberate practice and play, and early specialization versus diversification. Finally, the salience of the social environment in relation to sport performance cannot be overlooked. Not surprisingly, the relations established with social agents (i.e., coaches, peers/teammates, parents) can facilitate or impede the developmental process. Consequently, the development of athletes in the context of sport and performance psychology extends past the individual and is influenced by several factors that must be discussed.

Advancing the use of performance evaluation in health care

2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 422-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Traberg ◽  
Peter Jacobsen ◽  
Nadia Monique Duthiers
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Performance Evaluation ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Performance Outcomes ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Performance Reporting ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Mri ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Individual

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for health care performance evaluation that enables decision makers to identify areas indicative of corrective actions. The framework should provide information on strategic pro-/regress in an operational context that justifies the need for organizational adjustments. Design/methodology/approach – The study adopts qualitative methods for constructing the framework, subsequently implementing the framework in a Danish magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unit. Workshops and interviews form the basis of the qualitative construction phase, and two internal and five external databases are used for a quantitative data collection. Findings – By aggregating performance outcomes, collective measures of performance are achieved. This enables easy and intuitive identification of areas not strategically aligned. In general, the framework has proven helpful in an MRI unit, where operational decision makers have been struggling with extensive amounts of performance information. Research limitations/implications – The implementation of the framework in a single case in a public and highly political environment restricts the generalizing potential. The authors acknowledge that there may be more suitable approaches in organizations with different settings. Practical implications – The strength of the framework lies in the identification of performance problems prior to decision making. The quality of decisions is directly related to the individual decision maker. The only function of the framework is to support these decisions. Originality/value – The study demonstrates a more refined and transparent use of performance reporting by combining strategic weight assignment and performance aggregation in hierarchies. In this way, the framework accentuates performance as a function of strategic progress or regress, thus assisting decision makers in exerting operational effort in pursuit of strategic alignment.

scholarly journals The Athletic Intelligence Quotient and Performance Outcomes in Professional Baseball

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Kenneth Bowman ◽  
R. Thomas Boone ◽  
Scott Goldman ◽  
Alex Auerbach
Keyword(s):  
Intelligence Quotient ◽  
Sport Performance ◽  
Performance Outcomes ◽  
Professional Baseball ◽  
Minor League Baseball ◽  
Subsequent Performance ◽  
Minor League ◽  
Coaching Process ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Impact

The focus on quantifiable data in sport performance has led to incremental advantages in baseball and has played an important role in the development of new hitting, pitching, fielding, and coaching strategies. Recently, researchers and team representatives have considered the impact of additional factors in baseball, including cognitive functioning. In this study, predictive validity for the Athletic Intelligence Quotient (AIQ) was examined vis-à-vis performance outcomes in professional baseball. Specifically, AIQ scores were obtained from 149 Minor League Baseball (MiLB) players prior to the 2014 baseball season and their subsequent performance was assessed through traditional and newly emphasized baseball statistics. Using hierarchical multiple regression, it was demonstrated that the AIQ predicted statistically significant relationships with hitting and pitching statistics, after controlling for other variables. Given the recent impact of analytics in professional sports, the potential importance of the AIQ in the selection and coaching process was discussed.

scholarly journals Employee Responses to Empowering Leadership: A Meta-Analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minseo Kim ◽  
Terry A. Beehr ◽  
Matthew S. Prewett
Keyword(s):  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Organizational Outcomes ◽  
Employee Motivation ◽  
Performance Outcomes ◽  
Empowering Leadership ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Employee Responses

A recent and growing number of studies examined how empowering leadership influences employee outcomes. At the individual level, we meta-analyzed 55 independent samples to determine the association between empowering leader behaviors and subordinates’ responses. Results confirmed the positive links of empowering leadership with evaluations of the leader as well as with employee motivation and resources, attitudes, and performance; the strongest correlation was between empowering leadership and attitudes toward the leader (ρ = .59), whereas the weakest correlation was for empowering leadership with behavioral and performance outcomes (ρ = .31). However, the relationship of empowering leadership with subordinates’ emotions was not significant. Examination of potential moderators, including rating sources, nationality of sample, gender, and industry, did not explain much of the heterogeneity in the results. In sum, findings highlight the potential benefit of empowering leadership for individual and organizational outcomes. Thus, more knowledge about what causes empowering leadership could be useful.

scholarly journals Applying Heart Rate Variability to Monitor Health and Performance in Tactical Personnel: A Narrative Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (15) ◽  
pp. 8143
Author(s):  
Mark D. Stephenson ◽  
Andrew G. Thompson ◽  
Justin J. Merrigan ◽  
Jason D. Stone ◽  
Joshua A. Hagen
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Heart Rate Variability ◽  
Performance Optimization ◽  
Human Performance ◽  
Practical Method ◽  
Performance Outcomes ◽  
Narrative Review ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
System Resource ◽  
And Performance

Human performance optimization of tactical personnel requires accurate, meticulous, and effective monitoring of biological adaptations and systemic recovery. Due to an increased understanding of its importance and the commercial availability of assessment tools, the use of heart rate variability (HRV) to address this need is becoming more common in the tactical community. Measuring HRV is a non-invasive, practical method for objectively assessing a performer’s readiness, workload, and recovery status; when combined with additional data sources and practitioner input, it provides an affordable and scalable solution for gaining actionable information to support the facilitation and maintenance of operational performance. This narrative review discusses the non-clinical use of HRV for assessing, monitoring, and interpreting autonomic nervous system resource availability, modulation, effectiveness, and efficiency in tactical populations. Broadly, HRV metrics represent a complex series of interactions resulting from internal and external stimuli; therefore, a general overview of HRV applications in tactical personnel is discussed, including the influence of occupational specific demands, interactions between cognitive and physical domains, and recommendations on implementing HRV for training and recovery insights into critical health and performance outcomes.

Effects of Cooperation and Competition on Performance, Emotion, and Effort: Goal and Means Interdependence

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Christopher Ring ◽  
Maria Kavussanu ◽  
Andrew Cooke
Keyword(s):  
Individual Performance ◽  
Sport Performance ◽  
The Other ◽  
Task Structure ◽  
Social Interdependence ◽  
Interdependence Theory ◽  
Social Interdependence Theory ◽  
Performance Effects ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Individual

Social interdependence theory proposes that task structure influences performance via social interaction. Using this framework, we examined sport performance. Fifty-six males performed a basketball task under four conditions: as an individual (individual, perform your best) and as a member of a team of two (cooperation, where teammates sought to better their individual performance; means independent competition, where two teams competed sequentially to outperform the other team; means interdependent competition, where two teams competed simultaneously to outperform the other team). Task performance (points) was better during means independent competition than other conditions. Anxiety and effort peaked during the competitions and enjoyment was greater during competition and cooperation than during the individual condition. Emotions, effort, and actions are discussed as explanations for the performance effects. Social interdependence theory provides a valuable framework to understand emotion, motivation, and performance. Team competition can be used to promote effort and enhance performance in sport.

Better Together

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James O. Pawelski ◽  
Louis Tay
Keyword(s):  
Positive Psychology ◽  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Performance Art ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Scientific Inquiry ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Human Flourishing ◽  
Positive Interventions ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Music Film

Positive psychology is a science, yet its subject matter overlaps significantly with that of the humanities. Differing methods of inquiry could lead to an antagonistic relationship between positive psychology and the various disciplines in the humanities, but this chapter explores the value of collaborative relations between these domains. It begins by noting ways in which the humanities have influenced—and continue to influence—positive psychology, and goes on to advocate an extensive, robust, and formal collaboration between positive psychology and the humanities. Positive psychology stands to benefit from such a collaboration through access to a rich repository of information about human experience and the quest to understand and cultivate human flourishing, through conceptual analyses and more robust and nuanced constructs, and through a new domain of positive interventions. Two extended discussions demonstrate some of the benefits that can accrue to positive psychology through collaboration with the humanities. First, a careful philosophical analysis of the “positive” in positive psychology shows how the humanities can help deepen positive psychology’s conceptual roots. Second, the presentation of a conceptual model for operationalizing the well-being effects of the humanities shows how collaboration can open up significant new programs of scientific inquiry into the roles of philosophy, history, religion, literature, music, film, and visual and performance art for understanding, enjoying, and advancing human flourishing.

scholarly journals Current Perspectives on Profiling and Enhancing Wheelchair Court Sport Performance

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Paulson ◽  
Victoria Goosey-Tolfrey
Keyword(s):  
Performance Monitoring ◽  
Environmental Influence ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Sport Performance ◽  
Individualized Approach ◽  
Paralympic Sport ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Physical Capacities ◽  
Court Performance

Despite the growing interest in Paralympic sport, the evidence base for supporting elite wheelchair sport performance remains in its infancy when compared with able-bodied (AB) sport. Subsequently, current practice is often based on theory adapted from AB guidelines, with a heavy reliance on anecdotal evidence and practitioner experience. Many principles in training prescription and performance monitoring with wheelchair athletes are directly transferable from AB practice, including the periodization and tapering of athlete loads around competition, yet considerations for the physiological consequences of an athlete’s impairment and the interface between athlete and equipment are vital when targeting interventions to optimize in-competition performance. Researchers and practitioners are faced with the challenge of identifying and implementing reliable protocols that detect small but meaningful changes in impairment-specific physical capacities and on-court performance. Technologies to profile both linear and rotational on-court performance are an essential component of sport-science support to understand sport-specific movement profiles and prescribe training intensities. In addition, an individualized approach to the prescription of athlete training and optimization of the “wheelchair–user interface” is required, accounting for an athlete’s anthropometrics, sports classification, and positional role on court. In addition to enhancing physical capacities, interventions must focus on the integration of the athlete and his or her equipment, as well as techniques for limiting environmental influence on performance. Taken together, the optimization of wheelchair sport performance requires a multidisciplinary approach based on the individual requirements of each athlete.

scholarly journals Landing Technique and Performance in Youth Athletes After a Single Injury-Prevention Program Session

2015 ◽  
Vol 50 (11) ◽  
pp. 1149-1157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hayley Root ◽  
Thomas Trojian ◽  
Jessica Martinez ◽  
William Kraemer ◽  
Lindsay J. DiStefano
Keyword(s):  
Lower Extremity ◽  
Injury Prevention ◽  
Performance Measures ◽  
Scoring System ◽  
Sport Performance ◽  
Performance Outcomes ◽  
Warm Up ◽  
Youth Athletes ◽  
Jump Landing ◽  
And Performance

Context Injury-prevention programs (IPPs) performed as season-long warm-ups improve injury rates, performance outcomes, and jump-landing technique. However, concerns regarding program adoption exist. Identifying the acute benefits of using an IPP compared with other warm-ups may encourage IPP adoption. Objective To examine the immediate effects of 3 warm-up protocols (IPP, static warm-up [SWU], or dynamic warm-up [DWU]) on jump-landing technique and performance measures in youth athletes. Design Randomized controlled clinical trial. Setting Gymnasiums. Patients or Other Participants Sixty male and 29 female athletes (age = 13 ± 2 years, height = 162.8 ± 12.6 cm, mass = 37.1 ± 13.5 kg) volunteered to participate in a single session. Intervention(s) Participants were stratified by age, sex, and sport and then were randomized into 1 protocol: IPP, SWU, or DWU. The IPP consisted of dynamic flexibility, strengthening, plyometric, and balance exercises and emphasized proper technique. The SWU consisted of jogging and lower extremity static stretching. The DWU consisted of dynamic lower extremity flexibility exercises. Participants were assessed for landing technique and performance measures immediately before (PRE) and after (POST) completing their warm-ups. Main Outcome Measure(s) One rater graded each jump-landing trial using the Landing Error Scoring System. Participants performed a vertical jump, long jump, shuttle run, and jump-landing task in randomized order. The averages of all jump-landing trials and performance variables were used to calculate 1 composite score for each variable at PRE and POST. Change scores were calculated (POST − PRE) for all measures. Separate 1-way (group) analyses of variance were conducted for each dependent variable (α &lt; .05). Results No differences were observed among groups for any performance measures (P &gt; .05). The Landing Error Scoring System scores improved after the IPP (change = −0.40 ± 1.24 errors) compared with the DWU (0.27 ± 1.09 errors) and SWU (0.43 ± 1.35 errors; P = .04). Conclusions An IPP did not impair sport performance and may have reduced injury risk, which supports the use of these programs before sport activity.

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