THE STRATEGIC CHOICES IN ACHIEVING TOURISM'S COMPETITIVENESS AND PERFORMANCE AMONG HOTELS IN INDONESIA

The current debate between external strategy and a resource-based approach as a driver of competitiveness is rarely investigated in a developing region. This study investigates whether an external focus or a resource-based strategy is better for leveraging the hotel industry's competitiveness and performance in a developing area in Indonesia. The authors obtained saturated responses from 204 managers and analyzed them with PLS-SEM's two-stage and repeated indicator approach while interviewing some of them. This study developed a formative model in PLS-SEM as a better method for investigating an organization's performance than a reflective approach. Quantitative analysis revealed the resource-based view as a better basis for supporting hotels' competitiveness and performance; however, the interview revealed considerable concerns over arising externalities. This paper suggests that hotel managers improve their internal core competence instead of wasting resources and worrying about external issues.

External Focus or Differential Learning: Is There an Additive Effect on Learning a Futsal Goal Kick?

(1) Background: How to optimally promote the process of acquiring and learning a new motor skill is still one of the fundamental questions often raised in training and movement science, rehabilitation, and physical education. This study is aimed at investigating the effects of differential learning (DL) and the elements of OPTIMAL theory on learning a goal-kicking skill in futsal, especially under the conditions of external and internal foci. (2) Methods: A total of 40 female beginners were randomly assigned to, and equally distributed among, five different interventions. Within a pretest and post-test design, with retention and transfer tests, participants practiced for 12 weeks, involving two 20-min sessions per week. The tests involved a kicking skill test. Data were analyzed with a one-way ANOVA. (3) Results: Statistically significant differences with large effect sizes were found between differential learning (DL) with an external focus, DL with an internal focus, DL with no focus, traditional training with an external focus, and traditional training with control groups in the post-, retention, and transfer tests. (4) Conclusions: The results indicate the clear advantages of DL. It is well worth putting further efforts into investigating a more differentiated application of instructions combined with exercises for DL.

How external and internal focus are used in the field: A review

The external focus and internal focus effects on motor performance and skill acquisition have been extensively examined and reviewed in laboratory research. However, the use of attentional focus in the field has not been summarized. Therefore, the present study conducted a systematic review of literature regarding the use of external/internal focus by practitioners (therapists and coaches) and recipients (patients and athletes). From 1999 to 2020, twelve studies examined how external/internal focus were used in the field. Results showed both therapists and coaches predominantly used internal focus; athletes tended to use more internal focus but varied by sports; and attentional focus varied between practice and competition. Additionally, the present review also consistently found that external/internal focus accounted for a small proportion relative to other foci outside the external/internal focus paradigm. Importantly, the differences in results were largely dependent upon the type of assessment ( e.g. closed-ended and open-ended questionnaires). Future research needs to investigate the relative importance of external/internal focus as opposed to other foci, as well as that affect a shift of attentional focus from one type to another.

Effects of Attentional Focus on Muscular Endurance: A Meta-Analysis

Several studies explored the effects of attentional focus on resistance exercise, but their analysed outcomes most commonly involved surface electromyography variables. Therefore, the effects of attentional focus on resistance exercise performance remain unclear. The aim of this review was to perform a meta-analysis examining the acute effects of external focus vs. internal focus vs. control on muscular endurance. Five databases were searched to find relevant studies. The data were pooled in a random-effects meta-analysis. In the analysis for external vs. internal focus of attention, there were seven comparisons with 14 study groups. In the analyses for external focus vs. control and internal focus vs. control, there were six comparisons with 12 study groups. An external focus of attention enhanced muscular endurance when compared with an internal focus (Cohen’s d: 0.58; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.34 and 0.82) and control (Cohen’s d: 0.42; 95% CI: 0.08 and 0.76). In the analysis for internal focus vs. control, there was no significant difference between the conditions (Cohen’s d: –0.19; 95% CI: –0.45 and 0.07). Generally, these results remained consistent in the subgroup analyses for upper-body vs. lower-body exercises. From a practical perspective, the results presented in this review suggest that individuals should use an external focus of attention for acute enhancement of muscular endurance.

Perspectives on Women in Plutarch’s Apophthegmata Laconica

The paper analyzes role and reputation, words and behaviors, duties and activities of the female figures described and quoted in Plutarch’s Apophthegmata Laconica. Depending on status and context, the role played by women in Spartan families and society seems to be fundamental for several reasons, in crucial situations and in different historical periods. And Plutarch, relating anecdotes, customs and sayings of the Spartans, allows to identify a remarkable variety of perspectives on women and their field of action. So, the internal and external focus on Spartan women’s everyday life helps to show the female loyalty to a Spartan ‘system of values’, through a series of aphorisms that outline the contribution of women to the historical and political experience, tradition and literary narration of Sparta over the centuries.

Look at the Audience? A Randomized Controlled Study of Shifting Attention From Self-Focus to Nonsocial vs. Social External Stimuli During Virtual Reality Exposure to Public Speaking in Social Anxiety

Background: Enhanced self-focused attention plays a central role in the maintenance and treatment of Social Anxiety and is targeted in contemporary cognitive behavioral therapy. Actual developments use Virtual Reality (VR) for behavioral training. However, no VR attention training combining exposure to public speaking with shifting attention from self-focus to external focus has been investigated, and no experimental evidence exists on different kinds of external cues as targets of attention. Therefore, we investigated the effects of an attention training during public speaking in VR and examined differential effects of an external focus on nonsocial vs. social stimuli.Methods: In this randomized controlled study, highly socially anxious participants were instructed to focus on either objects or the audience within a virtual speech task. We assessed the pre-post effects on affective reactions, self-perception, and attentional processes during public speaking as well as general Social Anxiety using subjective, physiological, and eye-tracking measures. Repeated-measures analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were calculated to detect changes from pretest to posttest over both groups, and time × group interaction effects.Results: Within the analysis sample (n = 41), anxiety during public speaking and fear of negative evaluation significantly decreased, with no significant differences between groups. No significant time effect, but a significant time × group effect, was found for the looking time proportion on the audience members' heads. Follow-up tests confirmed a significant increase in the social-focus group and a significant decrease in the nonsocial-focus group. For all other variables, except external focus and fear of public speaking, significant improvements were found over both groups. Further significant time x group effects were found for positive affect during public speaking, with a significant increase in the social focus, and no significant change in the nonsocial-focus group.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that attention training to reduce self-focus can be successfully conducted in VR. Both training versions showed positive short-term effects in the highly socially anxious, with particular advantages of an external social focus concerning eye contact to the audience and positive affect. Further research should investigate whether social focus is even more advantageous long term and if reinterpretations of dysfunctional beliefs could be achieved by not avoiding social cues.

Empirical Evidence for the Functionality Hypothesis in Motor Learning: The Effect of an Attentional Focus Is Task Dependent

A large body of research suggests that during learning motor skills, focusing on environmental effects of the movement (external focus) generally leads to better performance than focusing on one’s own body (internal focus). The functionality hypothesis states, in contrast, that the superiority of any attentional focus is task dependent. The present study aimed to test the predictions of the latter and searched for underlying mechanisms and task characteristics for one or the other focus being more functional. In Experiment 1, we examined whether the internal focus is superior in a difficult body-oriented balance task. In Experiment 2, we added visual feedback and investigated whether this would enhance the functionality of the external focus. In both experiments, the participants stood one-legged on a balance board and had to shift their centre of pressure (COP) to predefined target points. Per instruction, they were asked to interpret their attentional focus on the COP as either internal (the sole of the foot) or external (the platform). In Experiment 1, the external focus was induced through a mental image. The internal focus group performed significantly better, thereby supporting the functionality hypothesis. In Experiment 2, the COP was dynamically visualized on a screen. The internal focus superiority vanished. We suggest that the internal focus is more functional in motor-learning situations that provide more effect information through body-internal senses than through body-external senses. In these cases, the external focus hampers learning because it is associated with additional cognitive load.

Does instructing attentional focus direction affect static single leg balance performance?

Balance and postural control exercises are generally included as a part of exercise programs, during which movement practitioners can provide instructions to facilitate the performance of motor skills. Instructions can be used as cues to direct attentional focus, which has been found to affect the performance of motor skills, including balance and postural control tasks. However, no known studies to date have investigated the effect of both internal and external attentional focus instructions on static single leg balance performance, and it seems unclear whether effects of such instructions are related specifically to the direction of attention. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of instructing the direction of attentional focus on single leg static balance performance as reflected by the complexity of the center of pressure (COP) profile. Participants (N = 46) between the ages of 19–28 years old were randomly assigned to one of three group conditions: internal focus (INTn=15), external focus (EXTn=16) and control (CONn=15). Participants performed a thirty-five second static single leg balance task. Outcome measures were the scaling exponent determined from a detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) to infer complexity of the COP profile in the anterior-posterior (AP) and medial-lateral (ML) directions, and root mean square error (RMSE) of the COP profile in AP and ML directions. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) determined there were no statistically significant differences in the measured variables among groups. The results do not support the claim that manipulating the direction of attentional focus affects static single leg balance performance.

Acute and Long-Term Effects of Attentional Focus Strategies on Muscular Strength: A Meta-Analysis

This review aimed to perform a meta-analysis examining the following: (a) acute effects of adopting an internal focus vs. external focus of attention on muscular strength; and (b) long-term effects of adopting an internal focus vs. external focus of attention during resistance training on gains in muscular strength. We searched through five databases to find eligible studies. Random-effects meta-analyses of standardized mean differences were conducted to analyze the data. Ten studies were included. In the meta-analysis for the acute effects, there was a significant positive effect of external focus on muscular strength (standardized mean difference: 0.34; 95% confidence interval: 0.22, 0.46). In the meta-analysis for the long-term effects, there was no significant difference between training with an internal focus and external focus on muscular strength gains (standardized mean difference: 0.32; 95% confidence interval: –0.08, 0.73). In the subgroup analysis for lower-body exercises, we found a significant positive effect of training with an external focus on muscular strength gains (standardized mean difference: 0.47; 95% confidence interval: 0.07, 0.87). In summary, our findings indicate an acute increase in muscular strength when utilizing an external focus of attention. When applied over the long-term, using an external focus of attention may also enhance resistance training-induced gains in lower-body muscular strength.

Translating Thoughts Into Action: Optimizing Motor Performance and Learning Through Brief Motivational and Attentional Influences

Skilled motor performance is essential in sports, the performing arts, various occupations, and many daily activities. Scientists and practitioners alike are therefore interested in understanding the conditions that influence the performance and learning of movement skills, and how they can be utilized to optimize training. In OPTIMAL theory, three motivational and attentional factors are key: enhanced expectancies for future performance, the performer’s autonomy, and an external focus of attention. We review recent evidence suggesting that each factor contributes independently to strengthen the coupling of goals to actions. This work has implications ranging from fostering more effective skill development in novice learners, to increasing the efficiency of athletes’ and musicians’ performance, and to facilitating the success of patients in regaining functional capabilities.