Self-efficacy, State Anxiety, and Motivation during Mandatory Combatives Training

143 Pages·2015·1.01 MB·English

Florida State University Libraries
Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School
2008
Self-Efficacy, State Anxiety, and Motivation
during Mandatory Combatives Training
Hector R. (Hector Rafael) Morales-Negron
Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected]
FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

SELF-EFFICACY, STATE ANXIETY, AND MOTIVATION DURING MANDATORY
COMBATIVES TRAINING

BY

HECTOR R. MORALES-NEGRON

A Dissertation submitted to the
Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems
in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Awarded:
Spring Semester, 2008

Copyright © 2008
Hector R. Morales-Negron
All Rights Reserved
The members of the Committee approved the dissertation of Hector R. Morales-Negron
defended on March 21st, 2008.

________________________
Robert C. Eklund
Professor Directing Dissertation

________________________
Robert Moffatt
Outside Committee Member

________________________
Gershon Tenenbaum
Committee Member

________________________
Jeannine Turner
Committee Member

Approved:______________________________________________________________
Akihito Kamata, Chairperson, Department of Educational Psychology and Learning
Systems

The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above committee members.
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To my Wife, Marisol Correa-Morales, thank you for being there with me
throughout this 20-year long journey. You motivate me to always do better and I love you
for that.
To my kids: Meagan, Hector Jr., and Francisco, who are my inspiration to work
hard and complete all my tasks.
To my Mom, Gladys, who carried all of us on her back and showed me how to do
much with a little. Thanks for your support and your prayers.
To my Dad, Hector, because without knowing it, he made me the persistent and
hard working man that I consider myself to be today.
Last but not least, I dedicate this work to the U.S. Army Soldier, the warrior that
never backs down. While I have been in school learning, many of you have fallen…you
will not be forgotten. I pledge that what I have learned during this journey will be used to
improve those leaders that you will see in the future. Continue to close with the enemy,
which is indeed the defining characteristic of a warrior.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to:

-Dr. Robert C. Eklund, my major professor, for being patient and flexible with me and for
always being available to guide me during this process. Your guidance was undoubtedly
the biggest contributor to this project. I give you my most sincere thanks and
appreciation.

-Dr. Gershon Tenenbaum, committee member and mentor. Thank you for your support
and for believing in my potential from day 1. You are the ultimate professional and I have
learned many things from you.

-Dr. Robert Moffatt and Dr. Jeanine Turner. Thank you for providing me with time from
your busy schedules to develop me as a scholar. Your contributions, comments, and
suggestions were and will always be welcomed. Again, thank you for your
professionalism.

-Dr. Richard Hagen. Family, friend, and mentor. Thanks for your guidance and for
helping me better understand the English language. Your contributions to my career are
far too many to count. Thanks for being there.

-Mr. Matt Larson, SFC Matt Oniel, SGT John Bookout, SSG Scott Kovonda, SSG Garza,
and SGT Andrakowicz. These ultimate warriors run the combatives programs that were
used to conduct this study. Thank you for your flexibility and help during this process.
The study could not have been completed without you. I sincerely hope that these
findings will help the program in the near future.

-My peers and friends in the sport psychology program. Completing this journey is a hard
process, and it can’t be done without the support of a great group of professionals. My
peers, many of them almost 20 years younger than me, are smart and hard working
individuals that through feedback and professional discussion contributed to the
successful completion of this project. Thank you all, and God bless you in your journey.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS·····························································································iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS··································································································v
LIST OF TABLES·········································································································viii
LIST OF FIGURES··········································································································ix
ABSTRACT······················································································································1
CHAPTER ONE···············································································································2
Introduction····················································································································2
Army Combatives Program Background···································································2
Psychological Aspects of the Mixed Martial Arts Environment································3
Rationale for the Study·······························································································4
CHAPTER TWO··············································································································6
Literature Review··········································································································6
Self-Efficacy···············································································································7
Motivation··················································································································8
Self-efficacy and Motivation····················································································10
State Anxiety············································································································10
Stress Process···········································································································12
Anxiety and Self-efficacy·························································································14
Anxiety and Motivation···························································································15
Stress and Anxiety in Military Settings····································································16
Mental Training Techniques····················································································17
Relaxation, Imagery, and Self-Talk as Interventions···············································18
Stress Inoculation Training (SIT)·············································································18
Stress Management Training (SMT)········································································19
Current mental training program approaches···························································20
Other Coping Considerations···················································································21
Pilot Study················································································································21
Purpose of the Study····································································································21
Hypotheses···················································································································22
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CHAPTER THREE········································································································24
Method·························································································································24
Participants···············································································································24
Instrumentation·········································································································24
Intervention··············································································································28
Qualitative Inquiry····································································································30
Level 1 Combatives Course Description··································································30
Design and Procedure·······························································································30
Data Analysis···········································································································31
CHAPTER FOUR···········································································································34
CHAPTER FOUR···········································································································34
Results·························································································································34
Self-Defense Efficacy (SDE)···················································································34
Teaching Self-Efficacy (TSE)··················································································35
General Confidence··································································································37
Cognitive Combatives State Anxiety (CCSA)·························································39
Somatic Combatives State Anxiety (SCSA)····························································41
Motivation················································································································43
Self-Defense Efficacy, State Anxiety, and Motivation············································45
Participants Ordered to Attend·················································································46
Qualitative Inquiry····································································································54
CHAPTER FIVE·············································································································60
Discussion····················································································································60
Self-Defense Efficacy and Teaching Self-Efficacy··················································60
Combatives State Anxiety························································································61
Motivation················································································································62
Correlations··············································································································63
Group Comparison···································································································64
Training Status·········································································································64
Limitations of the Current Research········································································65
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Conclusions··············································································································68
APPENDIX A: ADMINISTRATIVE QUESTIONNAIRE············································69
APPENDIX B: SITUATIONAL MOTIVATION QUESTIONNAIRE·························71
APPENDIX C: COMBATIVES SELF-EFFICACY SCALE·········································73
APPENDIX D: SPORT COMPETITION ANXIETY TEST·········································75
APPENDIX E: STATE COMBATIVES ANXIETY SCALE········································77
APPENDIX F: QUALITATIVE INTERVIEW GUIDE·················································79
APPENDIX G: INTERVENTION INSTRUCTIONAL PACKET································81
APPENDIX H: DAILY HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS···········································104
APPENDIX I: QUALITATIVE DATA CODING·······················································109
APPENDIX J: CONSENT FORM···············································································115
APPENDIX K: CONSENT FORM (QUALITATIVE PORTION)······························117
APPENDIX L: HUMAN SUBJECTS APPROVAL LETTER····································119
REFERENCES·············································································································122
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH························································································130

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Participants’ (N= 52) Demographics············································································24
Table 2: Pre, during, and post-training self-defense efficacy (SDE)·······························33
Table 3: Pre, during, and post-training teaching self- efficacy (TSE)·····························35
Table 4: Pre, during, and General Confidence Scores····················································37
Table 5: Pre, during, and post-training Cognitive Combatives State Anxiety (CCSA)···39
Table 6: Pre, during, and post-training Somatic Combatives State Anxiety (SCSA)·······41
Table 7: Pre, mid, and post-training Reported Intrinsic Motivation·······························42
Table 8: Pre, mid, and post-training Self-Determination Index (SDI)····························43
Table 9: Self-Defense Efficacy Scores for Soldiers Ordered to Participate····················45
Table 10: Teaching Self-Efficacy Scores for Soldiers Ordered to Participate················46
Table 11: Cognitive Combatives State Anxiety Scores for Soldiers Ordered
to Participate···················································································································48
Table 12: Somatic Combatives State Anxiety Scores for Soldiers Ordered
to Participate···················································································································49
Table 13: Motivation for Soldiers Ordered to Participate··············································51
Table 14: Categories of Participant Perceptions and Percentage of Responses by Type.52

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: A Conceptual Scheme Relating State Anxiety and Self-Efficacy with
Motivation················································································································································6
Figure 2: Inverted U Hypothesis······················································································11
Figure 3: Self-Defense Efficacy (SDE) Scores through the Course································34
Figure 4: Teaching Self-Efficacy (TSE) Scores through the Course·······························35
Figure 5: Confidence Scores throughout the Course·······················································36
Figure 6: Cognitive Combatives State Anxiety (CCSA) Scores throughout the Course·39
Figure 7: Somatic Combatives State Anxiety (SCSA) Scores throughout the Course····41
Figure 8: Self-Determination Index Scores throughout the Course·································42
Figure 9: SDE Scores for Participants Ordered to Attend···············································45
Figure 10: TSE Scores for Participants Ordered to Attend··············································47
Figure 11: CCSA Scores for Participants Ordered to Attend··········································48
Figure 12: SCSA Scores for Participants Ordered to Attend···········································50
Figure 13: SDI Scores for Participants Ordered to Attend··············································51
Figure 14: Cognitive Combatives State Anxiety Comparisons Qualitative Group·········55
Figure 15: Somatic Combatives State Anxiety Comparisons Qualitative Group············55
Figure 16: Physiological Arousal (HR) Comparisons Qualitative Group·······················56
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