The aim of the current thesis was to investigate coach narcissism as an antecedent of controlling and autonomy-supportive coach interpersonal styles proposed by self-determination theory (SDT); potential indirect effects that underlie those relations, and the outcomes of such coach interpersonal styles. The current thesis is comprised of a systematic review and three empirical chapters. Chapter 2 reviewed the literature on antecedents of controlling and need supportive interpersonal styles and identified narcissism as an antecedent of particular importance to sport coaching. This chapter has also illustrated a dearth of research investigating narcissism as an antecedent of coach interpersonal styles, which then became a key theme of the empirical studies that followed. Across these studies, narcissism was found to be positively associated with controlling interpersonal style in coaches (Chapters 3, 4, and 5), however it was not associated with autonomy-supportive style (Chapter 3). Some of these studies also revealed indirect effects (i.e., empathic concern, effectiveness beliefs about controlling interpersonal style) that helped explain the relation between narcissism and controlling interpersonal style (Chapters 3 and 5), and narcissism and autonomy-supportive interpersonal style (Chapter 3). Finally, coaches' controlling interpersonal style was associated with need frustration and positive attitudes toward doping in athletes (Chapter 4), and moral disengagement in coaches (Chapter 5). These novel finding extend SDT literature by offering further understanding on antecedents and outcomes of coach interpersonal styles.

The main aim of this thesis was to investigate the relationships between goal involvement and emotions and potential mediators and moderators of these relationships; a secondary aim was to examine the link between goal involvement and sport performance. The relationships between goal involvement and emotions experienced before, during, and after competition were examined in Studies 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Cognitive appraisals (Study 1) and perceived performance (Studies 2 & 3) were examined as mediators of the links between task involvement and emotions. Also, perceived competence (Study 1), perceived performance (Studies 2 & 3), and outcome of the match (Study 3) were investigated as moderators of the relationships between ego involvement and emotions. Finally, the effects of achievement goals on emotions and performance were experimentally tested in a speed-agility task (Study 4). Overall, task involvement was positively related to positive, and negatively associated with negative, emotions; challenge appraisal and perceived performance helped explain the majority of these links. Also, some relationships between ego involvement and emotions were moderated by perceived performance and outcome. These findings suggest athletes should be task involved before or during competition and that ego involvement can be beneficial for emotions when perceived performance is high.

The aim of this thesis was to examine the influence of training and competition on achievement motivation, specifically on: (a) achievement goals and perceived motivational climate; and (b) on the relationships between goals, perceived climate, and outcomes such as effort, enjoyment, tension, psychological skills and performance. Study one addressed these purposes in tennis and study two in football; study three extended the findings to a wide variety of sports, and study four to an experimental training and competition of a golf-putting task. In general, the findings indicate that ego orientation and perceived performance climate tend to be higher in competition than in training. Task orientation showed a propensity to be higher in training than in competition, whereas perceived mastery climate appeared to be more stable across the two contexts. A task goal emerged as the most adaptive goal in both contexts, whereas an ego goal was found to be associated with additional benefits in competition, such as higher effort. Sport type (i.e., individual vs. team sports) influenced these relationships, but only in competition. Overall, these findings suggest that the distinction between training and competition contexts is a valuable one and should be considered when examining achievement motivation in sport.

This thesis examines factors that influence the propensity to, and the utility of, conscious processing during a complex motor skill. Prevalent theories of skill acquisition and automaticity view expert performance as best executed in the absence of conscious control of the movement. There is substantial evidence to support this claim for simple tasks but a lack of research for complex skills is apparent. In this thesis the role of conscious processing (reinvestment) is examined in relation to the full golf swing in baseline and anxiety conditions. The early experiments in the thesis examined the effects of limiting conscious processing through a temporal restriction. This paved the way for the later experiments that looked deeper into individualistic elements of personality and cognitive 'make up,' that may affect the control structures of the golf swing. The results indicate that conscious processing during task performance affects individuals differently. A high 'verbaliser' group deteriorated while 'visualisers' showed improvement during restricted conscious input trials. Furthermore, both short­-term memory and working memory showed positive correlations with task performance. Overall, this study implies a positive role for conscious control in the golf swing and questions the efficacy of reinvestment theory in relation to complex skills.

Under the umbrella of positive youth development, life skills represent an important area of research for young people. The personal competencies a young person possesses determine his or her capacity to effectively navigate the turbulence of adolescence and grow into adulthood. An increased understanding of the role, function, and enhancement of life skills therefore serves a great purpose in the design and evaluation of youth development programs. This thesis aimed to extend the current knowledge and practices through targeting the gaps in the life skills literature. First, using a qualitative design, the specific needs of young elite athletes were investigated while outlining a proposed methodology for future needs analyses. The importance of developing life skills in young athletes was emphasised as it was found that young athletes required a range of both sport specific and life skills. Second, an investigation into the function of life skills found that reported possession of key life skills partially mediates the relationship between youth experiences and well-being, illustrating this role for the first time. However, within youth samples there was a broad range in the degree to which these skills are applied and transferred, reinforcing the call for deliberate developmental programming. The lack of adequate measures in life skills research was addressed through the validation of BRSQ with young sports participants. Support for the utility of this measure allows for the greater investigation into the mechanisms through which life skills function. Finally, a life skills program was designed following the recommendations of the predominant youth development frameworks and comprehensively evaluated. This thesis progresses existing literature regarding the role and function of life skills as well as providing insight into how to best promote and evaluate the teaching of life skills in applied research programs.

The focus of many marketing studies is to understand the needs and anticipations of consumers and how they can be provided with positive experiences. In their efforts to understand the consumer, consumer behaviour researchers generally adopt a cognitive perspective, which propagates a rational, information processing approach to consumer behaviour (O’Shaughnessy and O’Shaughnessy, 2003). However, a unitary theory of consumption behaviour is undesirable because this restricts the way in which consumption behaviour can be studied (Foxall, 1990). As such, researchers need to use alternative theories in order to widen the scope of knowledge on consumer behaviour. Furthermore, within the field of consumer behaviour, emotional experience of consumers has become a prominent field of investigation. Richins (1997) concluded that the importance of emotions in consumer behaviour is well established. The question then is how researchers can attempt to understand the emotional experiences of consumers. This research is an attempt to understand consumption emotions of consumers with specific relevance to sports consumption. It uses an alternative psychological theory, personal construct theory, with which to understand and measure consumption emotions. Mixed methods research design is used comprising of repertory grid interviews and a quantitative survey to identify and understand the relevant emotions with regards to domestic one-day cricket spectators. The findings here show that six emotions are relevant in the cricket spectating context with most of these emotions having a strong relationship with both game experience and return intentions. This study contributes to existing knowledge on consumption emotions by demonstrating the use of an alternative approach to both measure and study consumption emotions. By using personal construct theory, the research has helped overcome some prevalent issues within consumption emotions literature. It has shown that emotions need to be understood at an individual level. Furthermore, it has demonstrated that rationality and emotions are part of the same process and provide support for conceptualising satisfaction as an emotion.

Sport coaching is a complex phenomenon in need of greater conceptual and grounded understandings. Since Heidegger’s influential text; Being and Time (1927/2005), the phenomenological question of what it means to ‘be’ has aided understanding in areas such as nursing and teaching. It is logical then, that this thesis sought to identify what it means to ‘be’ a youth performance coach. The phenomenological tenet that those best placed to elucidate a phenomenon are those that experience it, guided the thesis to explore the lived experiences of four case study coaches. Findings revealed three constituent ‘essences’ of youth performance coaching; (i) care; (ii) a commitment to educate athletes authentically for corporeal challenges to come; (iii) working with others to achieve a specialised corporeal excellence. These findings redirect coaches, researchers and educators ‘back to the thing itself’. The thesis also includes further novel contributions: 1) Phenomenological philosophy and methodology are introduced to coaching research. 2) The essential constituents of youth performance coaching are humanised by describing the incidental experiences and lifeworld of four case study coaches. 3) Fresh concepts (e.g. forms of care), sources (e.g. Sartre, 1943/1984), and areas for future research (e.g. coaching imagination) extend extant sport coaching literature.

The majority of psychological research investigating leader integrity has relied on self or other report methods as the primary means of data collection. While such an approach has advanced the literature, due to the theorised deceptive and manipulative nature of leaders lacking in integrity, prominent theorists (Barling, Christie and Turner, 2008) have called for alternative measures that are less prone to socially desirable responding. As no prior research had examined the integrity of sporting leaders, the present thesis began by examining the antecedent cognitive processes of expert football managers. Building upon this exploration, an implicit association test was developed within studies two and three. Results suggest that the instrument is capable of assessing automatic attitudes towards leader integrity, is more sensitive than existing measures, offers support for concurrent and convergent validity, demonstrates good test-retest reliability, good internal consistency, and is a predictor of player reported commitment. In sum, the present research has sought to understand the phenomena of leader integrity from the perspective of social cognition. The result of these investigations is a robust, sensitive, and complimentary measure of leader integrity, which will assist researchers to better understand the processes that underpin leader integrity.

Background The world’s ageing population is frequently cited as presenting economic and social burdens and critical challenges to healthcare systems, with falls and mental health featuring as two of the biggest burdens. Whilst physical activity is recommended for older adults to optimise functional independence and guidelines for the intensity, duration and frequency of physical activity exist, there are few guidelines on the specific types of exercises that are recommended. As a physical activity that incorporates the recommended aspects of aerobic, strengthening and balance work, the aim of this study was to explore the influence of ballroom dancing on the physical, mental and social health of community-dwelling older adults. Method A qualitative-dominant, concurrent mixed-methods design was utilised. Ethical approval was granted via the University of Huddersfield’s research ethics panel. Participants were community-dwelling older adults (over 55 years of age) who were recruited from local ballroom dancing classes in West Yorkshire. They participated in ballroom dancing classes for at least one hour per week for 12 months and were tested during this period at baseline, and after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. Demographic details were collected at baseline and the incidence of falls, changes to medical history or medications and levels of exercise were recorded at each data collection point. Quantitative measures of physical function were assessed using the Functional Reach Test (FR test), Timed-Up-and-Go Test (TUGT), the Four Square Step Test (FSST) and Tinetti’s test. In addition, balance was specifically assessed using a Biodex Balance System SD (BBS). The Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) was completed alongside the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Examination-General Population (CORE-GP) for well-being. The qualitative aspect of the study used semi-structured interviews at baseline, 6 and 12 months. Forty-one interviews were performed with participants individually or in dancing pairs. Qualitative data were managed and analysed using the Framework Analysis approach. Results Of the 26 older adult ballroom dancers recruited to the study who consented to participate, 23 (10 male, 13 female) completed the 12-months of data collection (mean age 66.5 years (SD 5.96 years; age range 58-83 years)). Using a Framework Analysis approach, 4 key themes were identified amongst the sample of older adults. ’Active ageing’ considers physical health perceptions, the acceptance, adaptation and frustrations of ageing and maintaining an active body and mind. The theme ‘class commitment and congruence’ highlights factors that were deemed important to the success of a dancing class and would encourage participants to keep dancing. The ‘Social dance community’ theme considers the influence and dynamics of dancing partnerships and the importance of building social networks. Finally, ‘enjoyment’ acknowledges the role of ballroom dancing for well-being. This study demonstrated a low attrition rate, no adverse effects due to ballroom dancing and a low falls risk in this sample of older adults. The primary outcome was assessment of functional changes between baseline and 12 months, with the 3-monthly intervals serving as interim data collection points. Over the 12-month period, whilst not expected in a feasibility study, there were no significant changes in the FR test, TUGT, FSST or Tinetti’s test. For the CORE-GP scale 97.5% of recordings were within the ‘healthy’ well-being score range, and there was a 10% decrease in points-score for the FES-I, indicating a possible substantive finding for clinical practice. The BBS tests demonstrated women had a statistically significant better level of postural stability then men, and as a group, their scores on the FR test were significantly lower than normalised scores for their age group. Discussion The findings suggest that ballroom dancing should be promoted by health professionals as a socially inclusive,safe physical activity that provides considerable pleasure. In addition to the current literature, the ‘pleasure of practice’and the ‘pleasure of community’are two types of pleasure suggested to be associated with ballroom dancing. Ballroom dancing also enhances opportunities for physical, psychological and social resilience in older adults by resisting age-related physical decline, assisting with acceptance of the ageing body, providing a strong sense of enjoyment and well-being and helping to form strong social connections, which are all important factors for resilient ageing. It is recommended that future comparative studies are of an adequate power to detect group differences that may exist in quantitative outcome measures, such as assessing balance with the BBS. A control group should be used for comparison with the ballroom dancing intervention group, with the intervention group all starting ballroom dancing at baseline. Given the findings of this study that the participants appeared to be high functioning when performing physical tests, it is recommended that alternative outcome measures are sought that will discriminate sufficiently amongst community-dwelling older adults.

This thesis explored and evaluated the appropriateness of established psychological theories for understanding mental toughness development in adolescents. Initially, adolescent performers’ perspectives about mental toughness development were grounding in Bronfenbrenner’s (2001) bioecological model. Subsequently, self-determination theory (SDT, Deci & Ryan, 1985b, 2000) was considered. This theory was selected because of its consistencies with the bioecological model and initial findings, as well as its potential to inform applied protocols. Significant theoretically-expected associations were identified between SDT principles and mental toughness, as well as mental toughness and other meaningful outcomes. The effectiveness of an intervention informed by SDT principles was then evaluated. Although findings did not support the hypotheses, several barriers and obstacles to adopting SDT principles in practice were identified. To elucidate the hypothesised associations, a conceptual essay that detailed the value of SDT for understanding mental toughness was presented. This essay conceptualised mental toughness as comprising notions of striving, surviving, and thriving. It is hoped that researchers will continue to investigate the development of mental toughness along the lines pursued in this thesis and, at the same time, attend to recommendations proposed throughout.