An experiment was conducted to investigate the cognitions and emotions athletes experience in pressure situations. Athlete participants were asked to read either a low self-presentation script, which de-emphasized self-presentation concerns, or a high self-presentation script, which emphasized self-presentation concerns. All participants were then asked to complete measures of cognitive appraisal, associated variables (i.e., self-efficacy, perceived control, and approach/avoidance goal focus), emotion, and the perception of emotion. Participants who read the low self-presentation script reported more of a challenge state of cognitive appraisal, higher self-efficacy, lower avoidance goal focus, and more positive emotion. Participants who read the high self-presentation script experienced more of a threat state of cognitive appraisal and reported more negative emotion. Non-significant differences were found for the perception of emotion, although participants who read the low self-presentation script did perceive positive emotion as comparatively more facilitative to performance and negative emotion as comparatively more debilitative to performance. The results give support to the notion that self-presentation concerns play an important role in explaining performance under pressure. It is suggested that self-presentation imperatives, cognitive appraisal, and emotion should all be included in models which seek to explain the experience and performance of athletes in pressure situations. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of
Science. / Spring Semester, 2012. / March 27, 2012. / Appraisal, Emotion, Psychology, Self-presentation, Sport / Includes bibliographical references. / Robert Eklund, Professor Directing Thesis; Gershon Tenenbaum, Committee Member; David Eccles, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_182922 |
| Contributors | Howle, Timothy (authoraut), Eklund, Robert (professor directing thesis), Tenenbaum, Gershon (committee member), Eccles, David (committee member), Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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