Operating at your limits: sport, surgery and performance under pressure

This article explores how well an individual manages his or her own talent to achieve high performance in an individual sport. Its setting is the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). The order-m approach is explained. Additionally, the data and the empirical findings are presented. The inputs measure fundamental golfing athletic ability. The output measures success on the LPGA tour. The correlation coefficient between earnings per event and the ability to perform under pressure is 0.48. The careers of golfers occur on the front end of the age distribution. There is a classic trade-off between the inevitable deterioration in the mental ability to handle the pressure and experience gained with time. The ability to perform under pressure peaks at age 37.

Download Full-text

Enhancing mental toughness and performance under pressure in elite young cricketers: A 2-year longitudinal intervention.

Sport Exercise and Performance Psychology ◽

10.1037/a0033129 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 2 (4) ◽

pp. 281-297 ◽

Cited By ~ 58

Author(s):

James J. Bell ◽

Lew Hardy ◽

Stuart Beattie

Keyword(s):

Mental Toughness ◽

And Performance ◽

Performance Under Pressure

Download Full-text

Evidence for the effectiveness of holistic process goals for learning and performance under pressure

Psychology of Sport and Exercise ◽

10.1016/j.psychsport.2014.11.003 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 17 ◽

pp. 40-44 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Richard Mullen ◽

Andrea Faull ◽

Eleri Sian Jones ◽

Kieran Kingston

Keyword(s):

Holistic Process ◽

And Performance ◽

Learning And Performance ◽

Performance Under Pressure

Download Full-text

I Am Great, but Only When I Also Want to Dominate: Maladaptive Narcissism Moderates the Relationship Between Adaptive Narcissism and Performance Under Pressure

Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology ◽

10.1123/jsep.2019-0204 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 42 (4) ◽

pp. 323-335

Author(s):

Shuge Zhang ◽

Ross Roberts ◽

Tim Woodman ◽

Andrew Cooke

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Task ◽

Motor Tasks ◽

Grandiose Narcissism ◽

Processing Efficiency ◽

Psychophysiological Response ◽

Task Processing ◽

And Performance ◽

The Relationship ◽

Performance Research ◽

Performance Under Pressure

Narcissism–performance research has focused on grandiose narcissism but has not examined the interaction between its so-called adaptive (reflecting overconfidence) and maladaptive (reflecting a domineering orientation) components. In this research, the authors tested interactions between adaptive and maladaptive narcissism using two motor tasks (basketball and golf in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively) and a cognitive task (letter transformation in Experiment 3). Across all experiments, adaptive narcissism predicted performance under pressure only when maladaptive narcissism was high. In the presence of maladaptive narcissism, adaptive narcissism also predicted decreased pre-putt time in Experiment 2 and an adaptive psychophysiological response in Experiment 3, reflecting better processing efficiency. Findings suggest that individuals high in both aspects of narcissism perform better under pressure thanks to superior task processing. In performance contexts, the terms “adaptive” and “maladaptive”—adopted from social psychology—are oversimplistic and inaccurate. The authors believe that “self-inflated narcissism” and “dominant narcissism” are better monikers for these constructs.

Download Full-text