by Patricia Leahy. / Running title: Elite athletes anxiety experiences. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 154-161 (2nd gp.)). / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT --- p.ii / ABSTRACT --- p.iii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iv / LIST OF TABLES --- p.vii / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.x / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- GENDER ON THE SPORTS AGENDA? --- p.1 / Gender Inequity in Sport --- p.1 / Female Participation in the Olympic Games --- p.2 / Gender Inequity in the Administration of the Olympic / Movement --- p.10 / Sport and the Construction of Gender --- p.14 / Conclusion --- p.17 / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- TOWARDS A FEMINIST ANALYSIS OF GENDER AND SPORT BEHAVIOUR --- p.20 / Feminism and Sport --- p.20 / Feminist Analysis of Sport as Cultural Criticism --- p.20 / Feminist Critiques of Sport Psychology --- p.22 / Individual Differences: The biological imperative - Sex Differences --- p.22 / Individual Differences: Gender Role Orientation --- p.26 / Individual Differences ´Ø Role Conflict --- p.30 / Conclusion --- p.32 / Relational Research: Gender in Context --- p.33 / Conclusion --- p.34 / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- ANXIETY IN THE CONTEXT OF SPORT --- p.36 / Introduction --- p.36 / Concepts and Theories about Anxiety and Competitive Sports - Historical Development --- p.36 / Cognitively Based Interpretations of Anxiety --- p.39 / Competitive Sport Anxiety- A New Model Emerges --- p.42 / Research in Competitive Sports-Related Anxiety --- p.43 / Research on Gender and Competitive Sport Anxiety --- p.47 / Conclusion --- p.48 / Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY AND GENDER-RELATED SPORT BEHAVIOUR --- p.50 / Self-Efficacy --- p.51 / Perceived Competence --- p.52 / Achievement Goal Perspectives --- p.53 / Expectancy-Value Model --- p.55 / An Interactional Model of Female Sport Experience --- p.59 / Overall Model --- p.60 / Individual Components of the Model --- p.61 / Gender and Anxiety Experiences in Competitive Sport: Hong Kong Elite Athletes --- p.64 / Individual Components of the Model --- p.67 / Overall Model --- p.68 / Implications --- p.68 / Hypotheses --- p.70 / Minor Hypotheses --- p.70 / Model Level Hypotheses --- p.70 / CHAPTER 5 METHOD --- p.71 / Introduction --- p.71 / Methodology --- p.72 / Pilot Study --- p.72 / Main Study --- p.75 / Chapter CHAPTER 6 --- RESULTS(i). VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF INSTRUMENTS --- p.78 / Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale --- p.78 / Task and Ego Orientation Questionnaire --- p.78 / Anxiety Experiences in Training and Competition Questionnaire --- p.80 / Training and Competition AR Scales --- p.80 / Training and Competition BR Scales --- p.93 / Training and Competition BRE Scales --- p.106 / Chapter CHAPTER 7 --- RESULTS (ii). HYPOTHESIS TESTING --- p.107 / Descriptives --- p.107 / Intensity of Anxiety Response --- p.107 / Scale Means and Standard Deviations --- p.108 / Minor hypotheses --- p.111 / Main Effect --- p.111 / Interaction Effect --- p.114 / Model Testing --- p.119 / Multiple Regression Analyses --- p.119 / Path Analyses --- p.134 / Chapter CHAPTER 8 --- DISCUSSIO --- p.142 / Minor Hypotheses --- p.144 / Path Analyses --- p.147 / Conclusion --- p.151 / REFERENCES --- p.154 / APPENDIX A Anxiety Rating Forms - Pilot Study --- p.162 / APPENDIX B Interview Format - Pilot Study --- p.164 / APPENDIX C Glossary of Terms --- p.165 / APPENDIX D Main Study Questionnaires --- p.166

Pang, On Hei Bonnie. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 146-168). / Abstracts in English and Chinese; appendix also in Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgements --- p.v / List of Figures --- p.x / List of Tables --- p.xi / Chapter CHAPTER ONE --- Introduction --- p.1 / Background of the Study --- p.1 / Summary --- p.6 / Purposes of the Study --- p.7 / Hypotheses --- p.8 / Definition of Terms --- p.9 / Delimitations of the Study --- p.10 / Limitations of the Study --- p.11 / Significance of the Study --- p.11 / Chapter CHAPTER TWO --- Review of Literature --- p.13 / Introduction --- p.13 / Theoretical Literature --- p.14 / Overview of the Expectancy Value Model --- p.17 / Expectancy Value Model Constructs --- p.19 / Expectancy Value Model Assumptions --- p.24 / Empirical Research --- p.27 / Parental Socialization --- p.27 / The Social and Cultural Milieu of Hong Kong Parents and Children --- p.37 / Summary --- p.45 / Chapter CHAPTER THREE --- Method --- p.46 / Participants --- p.46 / Children --- p.46 / Parents --- p.47 / Procedures --- p.48 / Instrumentation --- p.49 / Children Measures --- p.49 / Parental Measures --- p.51 / Interviews --- p.53 / Data analysis --- p.55 / Questionnaire Data --- p.55 / Interview Data --- p.57 / Chapter CHAPTER FOUR --- Results --- p.58 / Confirmatory Factor Analysis --- p.59 / Exploratory Factor Analysis --- p.61 / Descriptive Statistics................................................................- --- p.63 / Gender Differences in Children´ةs STV and Sport Participation --- p.66 / Parental Differences in Perceived-Sport Value in Children --- p.67 / Correlations and Regression Analyses of Parental and Children´ةs Variables --- p.68 / Mediating Effect between Parental Influence and Children´ةs Sport Participation --- p.75 / Interview Results --- p.77 / Experiences in terms of STV Components in Sport (High STV group) --- p.78 / Experiences in terms of STV Components in Sport (Low STV group) --- p.83 / Parental Influences on Children´ةs STV and Sport Participation (High STV group) --- p.88 / Parental Influences on Children´ةs STV and Sport Participation (Low STV group) --- p.97 / Chapter CHAPTER FIVE --- Discussion --- p.107 / Chapter Part One: --- Quantitative Inquiry --- p.109 / Theoretical Expansion on Eccles，STV Components Work --- p.109 / Gender Differences and Correlations in Children´ةs STV Components and Sport Participation --- p.111 / Differences in Parental Value Placed on Children´ةs Sport --- p.116 / Relations between Parental influences and Children´ةs STV Components and Participation in Sport --- p.117 / Chapter Part Two: --- Qualitative Inquiry --- p.121 / Understanding Children´ةs Experiences and their influence on their STV in sport: a Social and Cultural Milieu Approach --- p.121 / Understanding Children´ةs Perceptions on Parental Influence on their STV Components and Participation in Sport --- p.132 / Chapter CHAPTER SIX --- "Conclusion, Limitations and Recommendations" --- p.141 / Conclusion --- p.141 / Practical Recommendations --- p.142 / Limitations and Theoretical Recommendations --- p.143 / REFERENCES --- p.146 / Appendix A --- p.169 / Appendix B --- p.170 / Appendix C --- p.171 / Appendix D --- p.172 / Appendix E --- p.173 / Appendix F --- p.175 / Appendix G --- p.177 / Appendix H --- p.178 / Appendix I --- p.180 / Appendix J --- p.182 / Appendix K --- p.184 / Appendix L --- p.186 / Appendix M --- p.187 / Appendix N --- p.188 / Appendix O --- p.189 / Appendix P --- p.190 / Appendix Q --- p.191 / Appendix R --- p.192 / Appendix S --- p.193

[Truncated abstract] Regular engagement in physical activity is proven to decrease the risk of numerous chronic diseases and to improve mental well-being. However, many children and adults around the world fail to engage in sufficient levels of activity required to produce health benefits, with reports showing physical activity levels still on the decline. Perhaps because of this increase in sedentary lifestyles, obesity has become one of the biggest public health threats in the 21st century. Furthermore, both obesity and physical inactivity are closely related to psychological health, and may play an important role in shaping self-perceptions and feeling of general well-being. '...' In the first study, physical status, physical activity levels, and social physique anxiety measures were obtained from an adolescent sample of 259 participants. Partial correlation analyses revealed that physical activity involvement was not directly linked with physical status; however, both factors were significantly associated with social physique anxiety, which suggested evidence of an indirect link between the two constructs. That is, analyses showed that poor physical status was associated with higher levels of physique anxiety, which in turn linked to low engagement in physical activity. In addition, age and gender effects emerged, revealing unique differences in the ways in which these three variables may be related. To cross-validate and further examine these relationships STUDY 2 extended the range of self-perception measures to include a multidimensional assessment of physical self-concept and a global self-esteem measure along with physique anxiety. These variables were assessed in a German adult sample (N = 229), again alongside measures of physical status and physical activity involvement. Consistent with STUDY 1, no direct link was found between physical status and levels of physical activity involvement. However, evidence of an indirect link did emerge as both variables were related to multiple dimensions of physical self-concept, thereby reinforcing and extending the findings from STUDY 1. Furthermore, age effects emerged for physical self-concept, which had not been confirmed in previous research on physical self-concept. STUDY 3 employed a longitudinal design and investigated changes in physical self-concept, global self-esteem and social physique anxiety before, during, and after participation in a 12-week weight management programme. Participants (N = 63) were assigned to one of three conditions: (1) cognitive-behavioural treatment only, (2) cognitive-behavioural treatment and exercise, and (3) non-treatment control. Statistical analyses revealed a small, but significant reduction in weight for members of both treatment groups. Relative to controls, both treatment groups also improved on a variety of physical self-concept dimensions. At the same time, however, significant group main effects suggested that a weight-loss program incorporating exercise involvement may provide physical self-concept benefits that go beyond those obtained with standard CBT regimes. Collectively, these studies add to the growing body of literature on the connections between physical activity, self-perceptions and physical status. They also highlight the importance of involvement in habitual physical activity throughout the lifespan. Findings are discussed with regards to their contribution to the extant literature, and applied implications, limitations, and future directions are considered.

University of Macau / Faculty of Education

University of Macau / Faculty of Education

[Truncated abstract] Collective efficacy (CE) has been consistently shown to contribute to team performance by improving motivation, perseverance, group goals, and expectancy in teams (Bandura, 2000; Feltz & Lirgg, 2001). Having high confidence in one's team is proposed to increase the expectancy for success, thereby increasing motivation, persistence and effort, which in turn, increases overall performance (Bandura, 1997). A series of studies were conducted to examine predictors of self and collective efficacy in semi-professional soccer. In addition, within two of these studies, the effect of pivotal hypothetical injuries on players' and coaches' perceptions of CE were also examined. In the first and second studies, hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was utilized in order to examine simultaneous player and team level predictors of efficacy perceptions. Data were obtained from semi-professional male soccer players (N = 139, mean age = 23, SD = 4.43 yrs) from nine teams in Western Australia. Participants completed the Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ), the revised Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire-2 (PMCSQ-2) as well as measures of self-talk, self-efficacy (SE), and CE created for this study. HLM analyses indicated CE was significantly and positively associated with SE and significantly and negatively associated with perceptions of a performance-oriented motivational climate. Significant positive associations of SE were positive self-talk and average number of minutes played each game. Negative correlates of SE were a performance-oriented motivational climate and number of years played. The results illustrate the important cross-level influences of player and team level variables on SE and CE perceptions. Overall, the findings provide support for the propositions of the influence of sources of efficacy information and broaden the existing work on efficacy and motivational climate in sport. ... Future research on team processes following injury that may moderate the injury efficacy relationship may include, the effect of team leaders in an attempt to motivate the team and the verbal and non-verbal strategies of coaches. The present studies contribute to the existing body of knowledge concerning efficacy theory. Specifically, within this series of studies, individual and team level predictors of SE and CE among elite sport participants were examined. A performance-oriented motivational climate was negatively associated with CE perceptions, while players with elevated levels of SE had teams with elevated levels of CE. SE was positively associated with positive self-talk, and negatively correlated with a performance-oriented motivational climate. Further, the effects of player injury on CE perceptions also represent a valuable contribution to efficacy theory. Prior to the current studies, no researchers have studied the influence of athlete absence due to injury on CE.

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 2015-08-20T17:09:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2015-03-02. Added 1 bitstream(s) on 2015-08-20T17:26:03Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000841588.pdf: 1158731 bytes, checksum: 670d9dbf46acde0623136682ea8da10b (MD5) / A Copa do Mundo de Futebol de 2014, realizada no Brasil, deixou claro que este esporte tem a capacidade de deixar boquiabertos até mesmo pessoas que não tem o menor interesse no esporte mais praticado no Brasil e jogado com os pés, o futebol. Ao debater sobre o rendimento da Seleção Brasileira de Futebol na Copa do Mundo de 2014 os aspectos táticos, técnicos e físicos foram objeto de questionamentos, porém, nenhum outro foi tão discutido quanto o aspecto psicológico, apesar da significativa resistência a cerca das condições de possibilidade de realização de uma preparação psicológica . Neste contexto mostrou-se incontornável, tanto quanto os aspectos físicos, técnicos e táticos o importante papel da psicologia do esporte na busca por um ótimo desempenho. Neste sentido, no momento de preparação dos atletas para o mundial indagamos se houve a adequada preocupação com a questão da preparação psicológica. Este estudo teve, portanto, como objetivo questionar se houveram condições de possibilidade de realização de uma preparação psicológica da seleção brasileira de futebol na Copa do Mundo de 2014 realizada no Brasil. A realização desta pesquisa foi pautada em uma metodologia exploratória, qualificada como estudo de caso, possível através de pesquisa documental via notícias e entrevistas disponíveis na mídia, internet e crônicas de ícones da crônica esportiva nacional - João Saldanha, Tostão, José Miguel Wisnik e Juca Kfouri - capazes de dialogar com o tema investigado nos momentos e acontecimentos de destaque da competição, os quais denotam possível recorrência em participações da seleção brasileira em Copas do Mundo de futebol. A partir da análise dos documentos coletados pudemos construir um panorama mais aprofundado da questão, de modo a aferir melhor as condições, as variáveis e as prováveis responsabilidades. A partir dos dados coletados, analisados e discutidos, suas...

This thesis aimed to extend knowledge concerning the role of social support in youth sport. A literature review was conducted to identify the current status of knowledge in the area through a systematic review of studies applicable to social support in youth sport. The findings provided up-to-date knowledge in the study area and informed a two-part intervention-based study designed to determine the feasibility of whether an intervention has the potential to be run again in a controlled trial. The first (quantitative) part of the study aimed to determine the effect of the intervention on participants and to address theoretically important considerations relating to the specific role of perceived and received support in a youth sport context. Results demonstrated that changes in pre and post intervention values (i.e. intentions to drop out, social identity, received support, encountered, basic needs satisfaction) were non significant except for perceived support. The findings relating to a change in perceived support demonstrated that higher perceived available support was significantly associated with lower levels of intentions to drop out at the end of the study. Furthermore, social identity emerged as a significant mediating factor in explaining the association between changes in perceived support and intentions to drop out. The first part of the study also examined the stress buffering effect of received support. Findings demonstrated that stress encountered had a significant main effect on intentions to drop out. Moreover, received support was shown to exert a significant but small buffering effect on the relationship between stress encountered on intentions to drop out. The purpose of the second (qualitative) part of the study was to examine whether the intervention needed to be refined or adapted to make it more acceptable to users or more relevant to the specific context in which it was delivered. The findings revealed a range of key factors relating to perceived (e.g., access to games, games format) and received support (e.g., peer to peer support, increased confidence to participate, stress encountered, stress removed). The results of the pre and post analyses combined with the qualitative findings in the study suggest that the social support intervention has the potential to be tested in a controlled trial. The discussion focuses on the current status of the research area, limitations, suggested practical implications and future research directions. The findings highlight the importance of developing perceived support and social identity in youth sport and received support in buffering stressors typically associated with youth sport drop out.

Recent literature reveals that sex differences in performance actually might be reflections of sex differences in perceptions about the sex-appropriateness and the masculinity and femininity of certain activities. Therefore, this study was designed to determine the effects of perceived sex-appropriateness of a task upon performance of selected sport skills.