Sport Psychology A Student Handbook

252 Pages·2006·4.96 MB·English

by  Matt Jarvis

SPORT PSYCHOLOGY
This book offers a student-friendly introduction to the discipline of sport psy-
chology. All the key psychological issues in sport are explored and illustrated with
sporting examples. Throughout, difficult questions are raised: are athletes born
or made? Does participating in sport affect personality? What impact do cultural
beliefs have on personal sporting development? These complex issues are
weighed up to provide a detailed overview of the topic. Matt Jarvis has substan-
tially revised and expanded his original coverage of the subject from his highly
successful book Sport Psychology (published by Routledge in 1999). Here he pro-
vides a succinct but comprehensive account of major theory and research in sport
psychology, whilst maintaining the readable style and student-centred approach
which made the previous book so successful.
Key issues covered include:
• personality and sport
• attitudes to sport
• aggression in sport
• the social factors affecting performance
• arousal and anxiety
• motivation and skill acquisition.
There is an emphasis not merely on learning about sport psychology, but also
on developing critical and creative thinking. In addition, the book includes
chapters on conducting research and writing essays in sport psychology, as well
as reflective exercises throughout the text.
Written by a successful author who has experience of teaching at sixth form
and undergraduate level, this book will be useful to undergraduates in sport
science and leisure management, those studying for the BAQTS and PGCE in
physical education, and those studying A-level psychology or sports studies.
Matt Jarvis teaches psychology at Totton College and is Visiting Lecturer at
Southampton University.

Sport Psychology
A Student’s Handbook
Matt Jarvis
First published by Routledge
27 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 2FA
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
Routledge is a part of the Taylor & Francis Group
Copyright © 2006 Routledge
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form
or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
The publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the
information contained in this book and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any
errors or omissions that may be made.
This publication has been produced with paper manufactured to strict environmental standards
and with pulp derived from sustainable forests.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Jarvis, Matt, 1966–
Sport psychology : a student’s handbook / Matt Jarvis.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1 -84169-581-5 (hardcover) – ISBN 1-84169-582-3 (softcover)
1. Sports – Psychological aspects – Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title.
GV706.4.J37 2005
796.01—dc22
ISBN10:1-84169-581-5 (hbk) ISBN13:978-1-84169-581-5 (hbk)
ISBN10:1-84169-582-3 (pbk) ISBN13:978-1-84169-582-2 (pbk)
Contents
List of figures and tables ix
Preface to second edition xi
1. Introduction 1
What is sport psychology? 1
A brief history of sport psychology 2
What is a sport psychologist? 3
For those new to psychology 5
Summary and conclusions 11
2. Personality characteristics and sporting behaviour 13
Trait theories 14
Research into traits and sporting behaviour 19
Narrow-band theories of personality 22
Attentional style 27
Discussion of the trait and narrow-band approaches 29
Situational and interactional approaches 30
Summary and conclusions 33
3. Personality development and sport 35
Social learning theory 36
Applying social learning theory to sport 37
Sources of influence on social development and sport 40
Gender and sport 42
Sport as an influence on social development 46
The psychodynamic approach to personality
development 49
Summary and conclusions 53
4. Attitudes to sport 55
The nature of attitudes 56
Measuring attitudes 58
The formation of attitudes to sport 61
Attitudes to competition 64
Attitudes to sport and sporting behaviour 65
CONTENTS v
Changing people’s attitudes to sport 69
Summary and conclusions 71
5. Aggression and sport 73
Defining aggression 74
The link between aggression and performance 76
Theories of aggression 79
Individual differences in sporting aggression 83
Situational factors affecting aggression 85
The $64,000 question – does sport increase or reduce
aggression? 86
The reduction of aggression 88
Summary and conclusions 90
6. Social factors in sporting performance 93
Groups and teams 93
Social facilitation 97
Negative effects of team membership 102
Leadership 104
Summary and conclusions 110
7. Arousal, anxiety and sporting performance 113
Definitions of arousal, anxiety and stress 114
Factors inducing anxiety and stress 118
The relationship between arousal and performance 120
The relationship between anxiety and performance 122
Stress management 127
Summary and conclusions 133
8. Motivation and sport 135
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation 136
Theories of motivation 138
Self-efficacy 147
Counterfactual thinking 148
Pathological motivation and sport 150
Summary and conclusions 152
9. Skill acquisition and expertise 155
Definitions 156
Classifying abilities 156
Classifying skills 158
Two linked issues: the existence of superability
and the nature–nurture debate in sport 160
Stages of skill acquisition 163
The information-processing approach to skills 166
Memory 167
Theories of motor learning 170
vi CONTENTS
Expert performance 172
Enhancing skill and expertise: the role of practice 174
Summary and conclusions 177
10. Research methods in sport psychology 179
Quantitative and qualitative research 180
The experimental model 180
The correlational method 184
Survey methods 187
Case studies 190
Archival studies 191
Review methods 192
Summary and conclusions 194
11. Writing essays in sport psychology 197
Seven deadly sins of essay writing 197
Content 199
Structure 203
Style 207
Conventions 208
Summary and conclusions 213
References 215
Index 229
CONTENTS vii

List of figures
and tables
Figures
2.1. Eysenck’s four personality types 16
2.2. What personality differences can you see between golfers and
surfers? 23
2.3. The relative importance of personality, situation and other
factors in athletic performance 31
2.4. Mood profiles of elite and unsuccessful athletes 32
3.1. Children witnessing this behaviour may imitate it 38
3.2. David Beckham 39
3.3. Children imitate family role models 41
3.4. Feminine roles can be hard to reconcile with athleticism 43
3.5. Female athletes are evaluated by commentators for looks and
personality rather than performance 45
4.1. Boxing arouses strong attitudes 59
4.2. Social learning of a child’s attitude to football 63
4.3. Applying the theory of reasoned action to explaining participa-
tion in sport 66
4.4. There is always a decision-making process involved in choosing
to participate in sport 69
5.1. The greater the potential for serious injury, the more elaborate
are the rules for preventing it 75
5.2. Although (American) ice hockey is notoriously violent, there is
no clear link between aggression and success 78
5.3. Bandura’s famous bobo doll study 81
5.4. 9/11 triggered a reaction against war analogies 84
5.5. Martial arts training tends to reduce aggression 87
6.1. The effect of being watched on pool players will depend on their
level of expertise 99
7.1. Drive theory of the relationship between arousal and perform-
ance for expert performers 121
7.2. The inverted-U hypothesis of arousal and performance 122
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES ix