Cette étude exploratoire vise essentiellement à identifier les principaux facteurs psychologiques des gardiens de but au hockey ayant connu du succès. Plus précisément, cette étude nous a permis d’approfondir le sujet à l’aide d’entrevues individuelles semi-dirigées menées auprès de sept gardiens de but et huit entraîneurs des gardiens de but issus de la Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec (LHJMQ). Nous avons ensuite comparé les réponses de ces deux groupes d’experts dans le domaine afin de dresser un portrait précis de l’aspect mental entourant cette position au hockey. Nos résultats démontrent que les mêmes facteurs psychologiques majeurs ressortent du discours des gardiens de but et de celui de leurs entraîneurs. Il a ainsi été possible d’identifier neuf attributs psychologiques prédominants provenant des discours de chacune des parties. Plus précisément, ces neuf facteurs psychologiques reliés à l’atteinte d’une performance athlétique hors pair seraient les traits de personnalité, la résilience, le niveau de confiance, la passion, l’état d’esprit optimal, l’éthique au quotidien, un niveau de concentration optimal, la relativisation des événements et le contrôle des émotions. De manière générale, nos résultats vont dans le même sens que les conclusions tirées des autres études sur les différents aspects mentaux des athlètes de niveau élite. Toutefois, on observe un manque de données scientifiques en ce qui a trait à la psychologie du sport chez les gardiens de but au hockey. Cette étude constitue donc un premier développement dans l’identification des atouts psychologiques influençant la performance des gardiens de but au hockey. / The purpose of this exploratory study was to identify the major mental skills used by successful hockey goaltenders. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven goaltenders and eight goaltender coaches from the Quebec Major Hockey League (QMJHL) to be able to get a better knowledge on the topic. Afterwards, we were able to compare the data from the goaltenders and their coaches in order to get a precise picture of the mental characteristics associated with goaltenders in hockey. Our results demonstrate that the same major psychological factors would be identified by the selected athletes and their coaches. It was therefore possible to identify nine psychological attributes from the answers of both parties. More precisely, the nine psychological attributes related to hockey goaltender’s performance are personality traits, resiliency, confidence level, passion, mental readiness, work ethic, optimal concentration level, put into perspective events and emotion control. From a general perspective, our results are consistent with results from other research on the mental aspects of elite athletes. On a more narrow perspective though, we can clearly observe a lack of scientific evidences on the topic of sport psychology related to hockey goaltenders. This study therefore becomes an important first step in the identification of the performance psychological attributes related to the position of goaltending in hockey.

Dans le contexte pastoral évangélique, il est très difficile de s’expliquer qu’un croyant puisse aimer et servir Dieu avec passion pour constater, quelques années plus tard, que la motivation qui le pousse vers Dieu a été étouffée. Bien qu’ils utilisent des termes différents, les entraineurs sportifs posent essentiellement la même question : comment inciter les personnes sous leur charge à fournir un rendement correspondant à leur potentiel. Si la motivation est le moteur du comportement, pour bien des personnes, les émotions en constituent le volant. Il semble que par nature l’humain oriente son comportement vers les émotions agréables et s’éloigne des émotions désagréables. C’est aussi vrai pour le sportif que pour le croyant. Cette étude propose une réflexion interdisciplinaire entre la théologie et la psychologie au sujet du plaisir, de la motivation et de l’action humaine, à la fois dans le sport moderne et dans la spiritualité, qui permette d’aborder notre problématique sous un nouvel éclairage. Les premiers chapitres ont pour objectifs d’identifier la rencontre entre le sport et la spiritualité (chapitre 1), de situer la problématique dans son contexte anthropologique à partir de la compréhension psychologique contemporaine de l’émotion (chapitre 2) et de la motivation (chapitre 3). Les chapitres qui suivent examinent la motivation humaine chez les sportifs à partir de la psychologie du sport (chapitre 4), avant de consulter deux théologiens protestants Jürgen Moltmann du courant libéral et John Piper, évangélique conservateur (chapitre 5) pour introduire la discussion théologique. Bien que la psychologie contemporaine ait été une discipline longtemps figée dans un paradigme darwinien ou humaniste, décriant l’empiètement de la théologie sur sa compréhension de l’humain, le chapitre 6 présente des exemples où une discussion théologique de l’humain, dépourvue de toute validité empirique, peut apporter une vision complémentaire à la psychologie contemporaine et contribuer au bien-être du sportif comme à celui du croyant. Ainsi, la contribution de la psychologie, qui est acceptable à une interprétation évangélique, peut apporter un éclaircissement sur les raisons possibles d’un changement de motivation chez le croyant dans son amour et son service envers Dieu. Le dernier chapitre se veut le prolongement de cette étude dans d’autres domaines, comme les études bibliques et le counseling auprès des croyants et des sportifs et dans le cadre de l’aumônerie militaire. / For a pastor in the Christian Evangelical tradition, it is difficult to explain how a believer, who once loved and served God with passion, finds that a few years later his motivation directed towards God has waned. Though using different terminology, coaches ask essentially the same question concerning some of their athletes. How can they incite those under their supervision to perform in light of their full potential? If motivation is the motor of behaviour, for the majority of people emotions are the steering wheel. People, by nature, tend to steer their behaviour in a direction that reinforces desirable emotions and avoids those that are undesirable. This is true for both athletes and believers. This thesis proposes a reflection on motivation as it relates to two fields of study: theology and psychology. More precisely it looks at the subject of pleasure, motivation, and human action in the areas of modern sport and spirituality, with the intention of shedding new light on our problem. The first few chapters seek to identify the common ground between sport and spirituality (chapter 1), and to situate our problem in its anthropological context by defining the basic concepts of emotion (chapter 2) and motivation (chapter 3) according to modern psychology. The chapters that follow examine motivation from an understanding of sport psychology (chapter 4) before moving on to its counterpart from a theological perspective (chapter 5) by consulting two protestant theologians: Jürgen Moltmann of a liberal persuasion and John Piper, a conservative evangelical. Though contemporary psychology is known as being a discipline fixed in a Darwinian or Humanist paradigm which disassociates from any theological understanding of human beings, chapter 6 presents examples of how a theological discussion, outside of empirical confirmation, may bring a complementary vision to contemporary psychology and contribute to the well being of both athlete and believer. The chapter also proposes how an understanding of psychology, acceptable to an evangelical interpretation, may shed light on the possible changes in motivation a believer may experience in his love and service for God. The last chapter projects the ideas of this study to other fields of interest such as Bible study, the counseling of believers and athletes, and the work of military chaplains.

L’entraînement délibéré joue un rôle essentiel dans le développement de l’excellence sportive. Cette pratique est décrite comme étant une activité menée dans un but d’amélioration exigeant un niveau élevé d’effort et de concentration et n’étant pas nécessairement plaisante. Bien que les aspects quantitatifs de la pratique délibérée aient grandement été explorés, peu d’études se sont attardées à qualifier ce processus de façon précise. Ainsi, l’objectif de la présente étude est de définir précisément ce qu’est un entraînement de qualité ainsi que le processus psychologique s’y rattachant. Pour ce faire, des entrevues semi-structurées ont été menées auprès de douze patineurs élites québécois. L’analyse des données, par théorisation ancrée, démontre qu’un entraînement de haute qualité est le résultat d’une interaction dynamique de plusieurs facteurs liés à l’athlète, à son environnement, au contenu de son entraînement et à son état psychologique. Plus précisément, la confiance, la motivation, la concentration et l’attitude positive sont les habiletés psychologiques qui peuvent affecter l’entraînement. En fait, l’analyse démontre qu’un processus psychologique important s’opère lors de l’entraînement délibéré. Tout d’abord, des stratégies cognitives et comportementales comme l’imagerie mentale, la fixation d’objectifs et la routine sont utilisées par les athlètes pour se préparer à l’entraînement. Puis, lorsque son état psychologique est affecté négativement, l’athlète a recours à différentes stratégies afin d’optimiser cet état. Si ces stratégies s’avèrent efficaces, la qualité de l’entraînement est maintenue et l’athlète en ressort avec l’impression d’avoir progressé autant sur le plan technique, mental qu’émotionnel. / Deliberate practice plays an important role in the development of sport excellence. This practice is described as being aimed at the improvement of performance and requires a high level of effort and concentration and is not inherently enjoyable. The quantitative aspect of deliberate practice has been explored in several studies, but very few studies have examined the qualitative side of this process. Thus, the goal of the present study is to describe precisely what deliberate training is and the psychological process underlying it. To reach those goals, semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve elite Quebec figure skaters . Data analyse, using grounded theory, demonstrate that high quality training is the result of a dynamic interaction among many factors related to the athletes, their environment, the content of their training and their psychological state. Specifically, confidence, focus, motivation and positive attitude are psychological skills that can affect performance. In fact, the results show that an important process occurred during deliberate training. First, cognitive and behavioral strategies such as mental imagery, goal setting and routine are used by athletes to prepare themselves to train. Then, when the athletes' psychological state is negatively affected, they use different strategies to try to optimize this state. If these strategies are efficient, they help maintain the quality of training and the athletes experience the perception of having progressed technically, mentally, and emotionally.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-03T16:34:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MILTON GOMES DA SILVA JUNIOR.pdf: 1109156 bytes, checksum: 8031afa39a2700c734e5433199769a02 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-08-24 / Any form of attention is continuously present in the human conscious activity, bringing implications and interests for both the clinical and Health Psychology areas. Attention is seen as a selective, intensive and directed state of perception. Within the sports context, there is much of attention field to be explored. The goal of this work was to test the goalkeepers attention by means of two experimental tasks. Our hypothesis was that the sports practice, specifically in goalkeepers because of their training, enhances their performance in tasks apart from the peculiar concept of the sport. What is more: it provides a performance enhancement, if it is due to the perceptive component of discrimination, to the temporal placement of attention or to the attention s maintenance for extended periods; in other words, it provides a higher capacity of concentration and less fatigability. We compared 27 soccer goalkeepers, between the ages of 15 and 27, divided by their time of practice. In this study, we used a computer commercial program, configured to the creation of attention tests (Stim, Neurosoft. Inc.), which controls all of aspects of the task. We correlated the reaction time and the percentage of rights with the length of the goalkeeping raining in months (along with the age). We divided the group of goalkeepers into two subgroups by means of the training time median. Despite the high correlation between training time and age, in our sample there was no significant correlation between age and performance in both of the tasks. The correlation between performance and training time was highly significant on task I. we did not verify the correlation between performance and training time on tasks II, despite the significant correlation between the performance on the two tasks. Correlation analyses between training time and performance were carried out on the tasks, separated by blocks. On task I, the correlation between training time and performance in each block was always significant; both in the parametric and non-parametric test. On task II, however, there was no significant correlation between training time and performance in any of the blocks. In the categorical analysis, which is an analysis of the two groups that were divided into two subgroups by means of the training time median, the difference in performance between the subgroups was significant only on task I, in the total sum of rights (T-test of independent samples; F=4.36, p=0.037) and in the rights within the two blocks (block 3 p=0.048; block 4 p=0.026). With training time, the enhancement of what differs them and the increase in fatigability condition tend to refine and reduce. The sports practice can indeed enhance the perceptive capacity and the attention s maintenance, which is the basis of the human discipline for the achievement of any task. Consequently, an affective and somatic increase, besides a cognitive intellectual increase, brings a real applicability in people s quality of life / Alguma forma de atenção está continuamente presente na atividade consciente humana, trazendo implicações e interesses tanto de cunho clínico quanto para a Psicologia da Saúde. A atenção é entendida como um estado seletivo, intensivo e dirigido da percepção. Dentro do contexto esportivo a muito da atenção para ser explorada. O objetivo neste trabalho foi testar a atenção de goleiros de futebol de campo através de duas tarefas experimentais. Nossas hipóteses foram que prática esportiva, especificamente em goleiros, e em função do seu treinamento, melhora seu desempenho em tarefas dissociativas do contexto peculiar ao esporte. E ainda; havendo melhora no desempenho, se é devida a componente perceptivo de discriminação, ao alocamento temporal de atenção, ou à sustentação da mesma por períodos prolongados, isto é, uma maior capacidade de concentração ou menos fadigabilidade. Comparamos 27 goleiros de futebol de campo, com idades entre 15 e 27 anos; separados por tempo de treino. Utilizamos neste estudo um programa comercial de computador, configurado para a criação de testes de atenção (Stim, Neurosoft. Inc); que controla todos os aspectos da tarefa. Correlacionamos tempo de reação e porcentagem de acertos com duração do treinamento dos goleiros em meses (e com a idade). Dividimos o grupo de goleiros em dois subgrupos, pela mediana de tempo de treinamento. Apesar da alta correlação entre tempo de treinamento e idade, inevitavelmente em nossa amostra, não houve correlação significativa entre idade e desempenho em ambas as tarefas. A correlação entre desempenho e tempo de treinamento foi altamente significativa na tarefa I. Não verificamos a correlação entre desempenho e tempo de treinamento na tarefa II, apesar da correlação significativa entre desempenhos nas duas tarefas. Foram feitas análises de correlações entre tempo de treinamento e desempenho nas tarefas separadas por blocos. Na tarefa I, a correlação entre tempo de treino e desempenho em cada bloco foi sempre significativa; tanto em teste paramétrico quanto em teste não paramétrico. Já na tarefa II não houve correlação significativa em tempo de treinamento e desempenho em qualquer dos blocos. Na análise categórica, ou seja, dos grupos divididos em dois subgrupos pela mediana de tempo de treinamento; a diferença de desempenho entre os subgrupos foi significativa apenas na tarefa I, no total de acertos (T- test de amostras independentes; F=4.36, p=0.037) e em acertos nos últimos dois blocos (bloco 3 p=0.048; bloco 4 p=0.026). Com o tempo de treinamento, a melhora no que diferenciar e o aumento na condição da fadigabilidade, tende a refinar e a diminuir. A prática esportiva pode de fato melhorar a capacidade perceptiva e a sustentação da atenção, que é à base da disciplina humana para realização de qualquer tarefa. Conseqüentemente, uma melhora afetiva e somática, além disso, uma melhora cognitiva e intelectual traz consigo uma aplicabilidade real na qualidade de vida das pessoas

Text in Afrikaans / The main objective of this investigative study was to determine the motivational strategies of sport coaches within the South African context. The theoretical investigation indicated that the setting of goals and feedback seem to be the two most popular methods used by sport coaches to motivate their athletes. Different motivational theories, as well as the possible role of these theories within the sporting realm, were addressed. For the empirical investigation the motivational theories elucidated in the theoretical investigation, were used as point of departure . A factor analysis of the gathered data gave rise to the emergence of four motivational strategies, namely reward, winning, a cognitive approach and self-confidence. An ANOVA procedure led to the following findings: Sport coaches show meaningful differences in their accentuation of these motivational strategies based on types of sport, gender and whether they have received formal training in Sport Psychology or not. No meaningful differences were found when institutions, qualifications and experience as sport coach were considered as variables. / Psychology / M. Sc. (Psychology)

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T13:16:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1686552 bytes, checksum: f40328960349e1ad122981dffddc13a6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-28 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / Although leadership is a widely studied phenomenon by researchers in the social sciences, little is known about its effects in the sport context. Leadership has been neglected, especially in school sports. On the other hand, school sports have absorbed great investments to develop new athletes and promote the health of sport practitioners. In this context, the coach (leader) plays a key role, because his behavior influences, positively or negatively, the athletes' performance and psychological well-being. This study is based on the Multidimensional Model of Leadership, proposed by Chelladurai (1978, 2007), and had as its main objective to analyze the relationship between coaches' leadership and school athletes' satisfaction. The specific objectives were: (1) to make a descriptive and comparative study of coaches' leadership behavior and athletes' satisfaction; (2) to verify the correlation between the leadership perceived by the athletes and coaches self-perceived leadership; (3) to test the hypothesis of congruence of leadership with satisfaction and (4) to prepare an explanatory model of the athletes' satisfaction from the coach's leadership behavior. The sample consisted of 466 athletes with an average age of 16.16 (SD=0.79) and 57 coaches with an average age of 37.91 (SD = 9.52), participants of the 2012 National School Games, held by the organization of the Brazilian Olympic Committee. The athletes completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Leadership Scale in Sports (preference and perception versions) and the Athlete's Satisfaction Questionnaire (leadership version). The coaches, instead, completed the sociodemographic questionnaire the Leadership Scale in Sports (self-perception version). The analysis of internal consistency and factor analysis confirmed the psychometric validity of instruments. The intra- and inter-group comparisons (according to gender and modality type) showed differences in a few leadership and satisfaction dimensions. However, there was no difference between the responses of athletes and coaches, suggesting that there is an agreement on the behavior displayed by the coach. The results of the regression analysis partially support the hypothesis that the athletes' satisfaction is dependent on the congruence between athletes' preferred and perceived coaches. Lastly, the model developed shows three dimensions of the coach's leadership behavior as explanatory variables of the athletes' satisfaction. / Embora a liderança seja um fenômeno amplamente estudado pelos pesquisadores das ciências sociais, seus efeitos no contexto esportivo ainda são pouco conhecidos. Sobretudo, a liderança no esporte escolar tem sido negligenciada. Por outro lado, o esporte escolar tem absorvido grandes investimentos para desenvolver novos atletas e promover a saúde de seus praticantes. Nesse contexto, o treinador (líder) exerce um papel fundamental, pois o seu comportamento influencia, positiva ou negativamente, o desempenho e o bem estar psicológico dos atletas. O presente estudo é baseado no Modelo Multidimensional de Liderança, proposto por Chelladurai (1978, 2007), e teve como objetivo geral analisar a relação entre a liderança dos treinadores e a satisfação de atletas escolares. Os objetivos específicos foram: (1) fazer uma análise descritiva e comparativa do comportamento de liderança dos treinadores e da satisfação dos atletas; (2) verificar a concordância entre a liderança percebida pelos atletas e a autopercebida pelos treinadores; (3) testar a hipótese da congruência da liderança com a satisfação e (4) elaborar um modelo explicativo da satisfação dos atletas a partir do comportamento de liderança do treinador. A amostra foi composta por 466 atletas com idade média de 16,16 (DP = 0,79) e 57 treinadores com idade média de 37,91 (DP = 9,52), participantes da etapa nacional das Olimpíadas Escolares 2012, realizada sob a organização do Comitê Olímpico Brasileiro. Os atletas responderam um questionário sócio demográfico, a Escala de liderança no Esporte (versões preferência e percepção) e o Questionário de Satisfação do Atleta (versão liderança). Já os treinadores responderam um questionário sócio demográfico e a Escala de liderança no Esporte (versão autopercepção). A análise da consistência interna e análise fatorial confirmaram a validade psicométrica dos instrumentos. As comparações intra e intergrupos (de acordo com sexo e tipo de modalidade) demonstraram diferenças em algumas dimensões da liderança e da satisfação. Porém, não houve diferença entre as respostas dos atletas e dos treinadores, sugerindo que há concordância sobre o comportamento apresentado pelo treinador. Os resultados das análises de regressão suportam parcialmente a hipótese de que a satisfação dos atletas é dependente da congruência entre o comportamento do treinador percebido e preferido pelos atletas. Por fim, o modelo elaborado apresenta três dimensões do comportamento de liderança do treinador como variáveis explicativas da satisfação dos atletas.

INTRODUCTION: The motivation for sports practice has been the frequent subject of studies. Although university servants have greater access to up-to-date information on the health benefits of sport, little is known about their practice, as well as the recognition of barriers, to make them physically active. OBJECTIVES: To identify the motivating factors and barriers for the practice of physical-sports activities of servers of the federal university. METHODS: This is a descriptive and cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of 431 effective servers of the Federal University of Sergipe-UFS. We used three instruments, one with socio-demographic data, the Motivation Scale for Sports Practice-EMPE, and the Measurement of Barriers Perception for the Practice of Physical Activities-MPBPAF. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, factorial analysis, Cronbach's alpha and Student's t-test for independent samples. We considered significant values of p < 0.05. RESULTS: from the factor analysis, the 33 items from EMPE were organized into 6 factors and the 19 MPBPAF items were organized into 5 factors. Comparisons of the motivating factors as are recognized as barriers to the practice of sports in relation to the studied variables did not show statistically significant differences, except for the factors perceived as barriers related to the variable sex. CONCLUSION: individuals found greater motivation for the practice of sports in the conquest of health. The greatest barriers were recognized in the dimension "social organization", and the less important were the "Psychological dimensions", "Physics" and "Motivational". / INTRODUÇÃO: A motivação para a prática esportiva tem sido objeto frequente de estudos. Ainda que os servidores de universidades tenham maiores possibilidades de acesso a informações atualizadas sobre os benefícios do esporte para a saúde, pouco se sabe sobre sua prática, assim como o reconhecimento de barreiras, torná-los fisicamente ativos. OBJETIVOS: Identificar os fatores motivadores e as barreiras para a prática de atividades físico-esportivas de servidores de uma universidade federal. MÉTODOS: Trata-se de um estudo descritivo e transversal. A amostra foi composta por 431 servidores efetivos da Universidade Federal de Sergipe - UFS. Utilizamos três instrumentos, sendo um com dados sociodemográficos, a Escala de Motivos para Prática Esportiva - EMPE, e a Mensuração da Percepção de Barreiras para a Prática de Atividades Físicas – MPBPAF. A análise dos dados foi realizada através da estatística descritiva, análise fatorial, alfa de Cronbach e o teste “t” de Student para amostras independentes. Consideramos significativos valores de p<0,05. RESULTADOS: A partir da análise fatorial, os 33 itens da EMPE foram organizados em 6 fatores e os 19 itens do MPBPAF foram organizados em 5 fatores. As comparações dos fatores motivadores assim como os reconhecidos como barreiras para a prática de esportes em relação às variáveis estudadas não apresentaram diferenças estatisticamente significativas, exceto para os fatores percebidos como barreiras relacionados à variável sexo. CONCLUSÃO: Os indivíduos encontraram maior motivação para a prática de esportes na conquista da saúde. As maiores barreiras reconhecidas foram da dimensão “Organização social”, e as menos importantes foram das dimensões “Psicológica”, “Física” e “Motivacional”. / São Cristóvão, SE

This research project is a narrative study on the use of chess as a therapeutic medium in a substance abuse rehabilitation centre. Stabilis Treatment Centre served as the rehabilitation centre where the data was collected and the therapeutic sessions conducted. In this research report I introduced Stabilis Treatment Centre by exploring and providing an overview of their existing programmes. I have stated the research problem and the subsequent research question and goals. A literature review is included where information with regards to drug abuse, exercise psychology and the use of chess in various contexts is provided. The research methodology is examined and narrative practice is introduced and explored. The three participants in this research project are introduced and their experiences of playing chess are explored and extended to their experiences of life and relevant situations. This process is documented in letter format where I as researcher wrote letters to each participant reflecting on their experiences of using chess to narrate their personal narratives. This research project concludes where I summarize the results of this study as well as providing recommendations for future studies. / Dissertation (MA (Counselling Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Psychology / unrestricted

This research report is a narrative on my encounter with sport psychology. I used the metaphors of “touring” and “journal” to guide the construction of this narrative. Before embarking on my tour with sport psychology, I introduced myself as researcher (chapter 2, journal entry I) and stated the research problem, question and goal(s)(chapter 3, journal entry II). I then went on a tour with sport psychology. I visited a sport psychology museum to learn more about the history of sport psychology (chapter 4, journal entry III) and a sport psychology library to learn more about the field of sport psychology (chapter 5, journal entry IV). I also attended a sport psychology conference to become better acquainted with postgraduate sport psychology training in Psychology Departments (chapter 6, journal entry V). I also visited a sport psychology department at a university in Australia, to witness the delivery of a postgraduate training programme in sport psychology (chapter 7, journal entry VI), as well as a sport centre in South Africa and a sport institute in Australia, to see how and the extent to which sport psychology was practised (chapter 8, journal entry VII). After my tour with sport psychology I took what I had learnt and adapted the MA (Counselling Psychology) programme at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. This led to the programme having three core modules and two elective modules. The core modules are fundamental psychology, counselling psychology and career psychology. The elective modules are: community psychology and sport psychology. The sport psychology module consists of the following courses: sport psychology, sport management, sport sociology and exercise psychology. The Professional Board of Psychology at the Health Professions Council of South Africa approved this module at the end of 2003 (chapter 9, journal entry VIII). Finally, I also looked at the influence of my experience with sport psychology on my identity as a psychologist (chapter 10, journal entry IX). / Thesis (PhD (Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Psychology / unrestricted

This project explores the means of self-efficacy development in competitive athletes. The theoretical part of the project will include sport motivation, performance and most importantly the application of a psychological concept of self-efficacy in individual sports. Additionally, it will discuss various self-efficacy measurements and enhancement techniques in athletes. The empirical part of the project will include qualitative research which aims to explore the level of self-efficacy in modern gymnasts and verify particular techniques of self-efficacy enhancement in their training. Keywords Self-efficacy; Sport Psychology; Motivation to Sport; Imagery; Self-talk; Goal setting