Instant Notes: Sport And Exercise Psychology

xiiimain text of a topic, and then use the Key Notes as a rapid revision aid. Althougheach topic stands alone, it is the nature of sport and exercise psychology thattopics are interrelated. To help the student see these interrelationships we haveprovided numerous cross-references between topics.The sections have been grouped together under the four main themes ofintroductory issues, sport psychology, exercise psychology and interventions.Introductory issues are dealt with in Section A, which covers the basictheoretical approaches and research methods used in both mainstream and sportand exercise psychology. The second theme is sport psychology, consisting ofsections B through G. These are organized to move from the individual to thegroup level of analysis. Thus, section B focuses on cognitive processes inindividuals, such as perception, attention, memory, imagery, motor control andlearning. Section C looks at the motivation of the athlete and outlines cognitiveevaluation theory, achievement goal theory, attribution theory, self-efficacytheory and goal setting. Section D concentrates on moods and emotions in sportwith an emphasis on theories of the anxiety performance relationship. Section Edescribes the psychology of individual differences and in particular personalityand sport. The final two sections of the sport psychology theme move attentionfrom the individual level of analysis to relationships between people and groups.Section F deals with interpersonal processes and how we perceive others,influence others and are influenced by them. It covers social cognition,conformity and compliance, obedience to authority and interpersonal aggression.Section G looks at the psychology of groups including leadership, cohesiveness,social facilitation, social loafing, group decision-making and inter-groupprocesses.Sections H, I and J make up the exercise theme. Section H focuses on thepsychological benefits of exercise, in terms of increased mental health and wellbeing, and also discusses some negative consequences of exercise such asexercise dependence. In section I the focus is on what determines and motivatesparticipation in physical activity and exercise behavior. Section J covers thevarious theories and models of exercise behavior.The fourth and final theme of the book is interventions. Here we move to aconsideration of practical applications in sport and exercise psychology. Insection K we discuss the consultancy process, including ethical issues, athleteassessment and communication and counseling skills. In section L the focus is onperformance enhancement and practical techniques to help with issues ofmotivation, arousal, anxiety, concentration and confidence. Finally, section Mdeals with issues such as stress, coping, injury, burnout, overtraining and drugs.

Section A—Introduction to psychology, sport andexercise

A1DEFINITIONSKey NotesPlay has been defined as ‘behavior for thepurpose of fun and enjoyment with no utilitarianor abstract goal in mind’. It has been suggestedthat play might serve a number of functionsincluding allowing us to use up surplus energy,it lets us rehearse skills, it serves a recuperativefunction, and it helps us to reduce anxiety.A game is ‘playful competition whose outcomeis determined by physical skill, strategy orchance’. In play, rules are less prevalent than ingames, but the major difference between themis that the latter involves competition.Sport is institutionalized game. Thisinstitutionalization takes four forms. Firstly,sport is highly organized in terms of governingbodies, leagues, sponsors and nts in equipment, clothing andfacilities. Thirdly, it has a symbolic dimensionin the form of ceremony, ritual, display andsecrecy. Lastly, it has an educational aspect.Sport also involves a degree of physicality.Exercise is generally thought of as any form ofphysical activity carried out for the purpose ofhealth or fitness. The main difference betweensport and exercise is competition. Anotherdifference is that exercise typically does notinvolve the same degree of institutionalizationthat characterizes sport.Psychology is the science of behavior.However, psychologists are also concerned toexplore the inner world of people, i.e. mental

SPORT AND EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY 3Key NotesRelated topicphenomena. These inner aspects fall into twobroad categories, thinking and feeling (knownin psychology as the ‘cognitive-affective’distinction). Thus, we can define psychology asthe scientific study of thoughts, feelings andbehavior.With regard to defining sport psychology andexercise psychology we can take the line of leastresistance and simply define them respectivelyas the scientific study of thoughts, feelings andbehavior in relation to either the sporting or theexercise domain. The terms sport psychologyand exercise psychology are often used to meanboth the basic or pure study of sport (orexercise) psychology as an academic discipline,and the application of psychology to thephysical domains of sport and exercise. Theformer endeavor is about the pure science ofdoing research, including theory building andconducting investigations. The second endeavoris concerned with applied issues.The scientific approach (A3)PlayThe term play comes from ‘plega’, the Anglo Saxon for ‘to guarantee, to standup for, to risk for a purpose’. However, most writers have viewed play asa voluntary and deliberate stepping out of real life that is characterized byspontaneity, fun, pleasure and enjoyment. Further, play is seen as lackingstructure and having no obvious purpose or external goal. As such it has beendefined as ‘behavior for the purpose of fun and enjoyment with no utilitarian orabstract goal in mind’ (Vanderswaag, 1972). There are several theories that haveoffered explanations for why people play. The main ones have included thenotion that play serves a relaxation/recuperative function, or that it allows us to useup surplus energy, or to practice or rehearse skills as youngsters that we willneed for survival as adults. In addition it affords us an opportunity to reduceanxiety by letting us confront our fears in a safe environment.GameThe term game has been defined as ‘any form of playful competition whoseoutcome is determined by physical skill, strategy or chance’ (Loy, 1968). Inplay, rules are less prevalent than in games, but the major difference between

4 DEFINITIONSthem is that the latter involves competition. For example, when we are playing at‘ping pong’ we are happy to knock a table tennis ball back and forward for funwithout caring about the score. This is play. When we begin to keep score andcompete, play becomes game.SportSport takes another step away from play in that it is characterized by a highdegree of institutionalization. This institutionalization has been said to take fourmain forms. Firstly, sport is highly organized in terms of governing bodies,leagues, sponsors and managers. Secondly, it involves technologicaldevelopments in equipment, clothing and facilities. Thirdly, it has a symbolicdimension in the form of ceremony, ritual, display and secrecy. Lastly, it has aneducational aspect as evidenced by the presence of coaches, trainers andmanuals. In view of this, sport has been defined as institutionalized game.Working backwards this gives us sport as institutionalized competitive playinvolving physical skill, strategy and chance (Loy, 1968). Returning to the ‘pingpong’ example we might say that by institutionalizing the game of table tennis itbecomes a sport.One final feature of sport is its physical dimension. We tend only to consideractivities as sport if they involve this. For example, few would consider spellingcompetitions or bridge matches as sport. However, it is not always easy to draw afirm distinction on physical grounds. Thus, you might be tempted to suggest thatpool, or snooker, or darts, or even golf, is not really a sport because of theminimal fitness requirements they entail. You might feel fairly safe in arguingthat chess is competitive play, but is not worthy of the title sport, since it has nophysical dimension. However, even in chess top players are known to spendhours practicing the movement involved in taking an opponent’s piece. (This isdone as a psychological ploy to make it look as if the taken piece has beenannihilated.) Clearly it is not as easy as it seems to draw lines of demarcation.ExerciseFinally there is exercise, which is generally thought of as any form of physicalactivity carried out for the purpose of health or fitness. For example, jogging,having a workout on a rowing machine or a bicycle-ergometer, walking the dogand even taking the stairs rather than the lift could all be considered exercise.While there is much overlap between sport and exercise, in that they bothinvolve physical activity, there is at least one crucial difference between them,and that is competition. Exercisers don’t win or lose. Another difference betweensport and exercise is that exercise typically does not involve the same degree ofinstitutionalization that characterizes sport. In general, most people who gojogging are simply exercising, rather than doing institutionalized competitiverunning, i.e. sport. Activities that are increasingly competitive and that involve

SPORT AND EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY 5greater institutionalization move themselves along the continuum from pureexercise to sport. Having said this, just as with the game-sport distinction,drawing hard-and-fast rules is not easy and there are activities that test thesedefinitions. For example, ballroom dancing can be seen as a sport if it is donecompetitively but not if engaged in at the local dancehall purely for pleasure.Similarly, most aerobics classes are not competitive in a formal way, yet thereare teams of exercisers who do compete with other teams.PsychologyPsychology

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