Topic > Sports psychology

IndexSocial learning theoryInteraction theoryAttribution theoryPersonality is believed to influence sports performance. There are several theories that help us believe that personalities have an effect on how athletes handle sports. It's how we see if sport has an impact on us by doing different tests to see which categories we fall into. This can allow us to understand whether the athlete is lazy, energetic, enthusiastic or relaxed when practicing their sport. Their personality may reflect their performance in sports. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Personality is divided into two different sections. The first part is having an introverted personality. An introvert is when someone does not actively seek attention. Their arousal levels are higher and they do not require further arousal. Introverts are shy and quiet. Because of their level of excitement, introverts often prefer "quiet" sports where there is less contact with other players. Introverts in sports include marathon runners and archery players. These are calm sports where even the coaches and other players most likely do not have high levels of excitement. This means that they are able to remain undisturbed during the competition. If they try to perform when they are too excited, they will not compete in their sport to the best of their ability. They prefer to have regular routines. If there isn't a routine they can follow, again, they potentially may not perform at their best and achieve the goal they desire. Extroverts are the other half of personality traits. Their attitude is to have a high natural arousal level. Therefore, they get bored more easily. This means they cannot participate in sports that require a high level of concentration. They like situations where they don't know what will happen next and where the game is unpredictable. Being socially extroverted, extroverts are involved in sports such as rugby or football. This is because they need to be enthusiastic about their sport and in these types of sports players are constantly active and moving. If they constantly move and enjoy the sport they play, they will most likely perform better. In conclusion, the personality traits of being introverted and extroverted tell us what people prefer to do for sport as a reflection of their personality. Social learning theory Another impact of sports performance is social learning theory. Social learning theory believes that personality depends on the environment you are in and that behavior is learned. Starting with personality traits, some people believe that it's actually the environment you find yourself in that influences how you compete as an artist. For example, some shy people, such as introverts, may be able to compete in a sport for extroverts because of the environment. So the intended sport for an introvert to compete in would be an individual sport, such as golf. Personality is not a stable characteristic. This means that our personality can change in social situations. We can change the way we learn in sports with two adaptations. When people copy athletes it is called modeling. An example of modeling is if a young footballer has a professional footballer as a role model, he will watch how he trains and look at his techniques to try and improve himself in an attempt to be like his role model. The other way we learn in sports is social reinforcement. Social reinforcement is theplace where the individual will repeat their behavior, their achievements or their downfall in sport because of the story or a reward. An example of social reinforcement is when a swimmer does something good and receives praise for it, it puts him in a good mood. This means that in sport they will repeat the skills they performed well as soon as they realize it is the correct technique. Overall, social learning theory impacts sports athletes as they acquire different traits when they achieve something good or bad. Social learning theories can be used in sports because they impact how we perform. There are believed to be four main phases that influence how we train and perform, whether it be the environment or shaping others. Bandura's theory is one where we apparently learn in 4 stages. Albert Bandura agrees with the theory that we learn from the environment in which we are involved. The environment can influence us because it can put us in a good or bad mood. Sports performance can be improved by copying other athletes who are more experienced than us. Therefore, the first stage is modeling. Nowadays we see celebrities and sports stars who are role models for younger children. In sports, people aspire to be like their role models. For example, in a sport like soccer, an 11-year-old who plays every Sunday will strive to become one of the top-flight players. They want to be as successful as them one day, so they will learn by watching them on TV and paying attention to how they play football. By following their every move, they learn through observation. The impact this has on sports performance comes from the fact that by watching professionals they can acquire the correct technique and improve their performance. Retention is the second way of Bandura's theory. The model will only be affective if the skill or behavior is in your memory. For example, if a swimmer wants to beat an opponent, he will watch him in training and see what his technique is. This will then stick in their memory and they will be able to find ways to beat the competition. Motor reproduction is the third theory in Bandura's theory. It is also known as reproduction theory. This is where the athlete observes a technique or routine, has time to practice and possibly execute it. An example of this is in a sport like tennis, if you practice individual techniques like hitting the ball, once the skills are developed and put together they will ultimately make you a better player overall. Depending on how motivated you are, the motivational response will not happen unless you experience the first 3 stages. For the person to improve, the task must feel important. So praising a diver when he does a good dive will make him feel motivated to repeat a good skill. Overall, social learning theory and its four phases impact sports athletes because it is all about modeling and practicing techniques. This is an effective way for athletes to learn new skills as they can model what other athletes do for their technique. It can impact your sports performance because you can acquire the proper technique and practice to improve. With personality assessments there are several tests you can take to determine where your personality falls. The tests created help us decide what kind of person you are. The test created by Eysenek was the first test I took part in. This test detects people's traits and tells us their personality. He focused on the two different dimensions of personality which are extroverts and introverts. He seems stable and neurotic. THEresults were ultimately provided in a graph that puts you into a category. I don't think this test is very reliable as it doesn't take your age into consideration. The way this can impact sports performance is that if an athlete gets a score they didn't expect on this test, their confidence levels can be knocked down. This therefore means that they may no longer want to play sports because they are being told something that they are not being told. The second test was the Cattells personality test. After answering the questions we were given 16 traits where we were given a score out of 4. I think the second test was more reliable as it asked you your age and gender. He also repeated some of the questions that make you think and answer the questions in more truth. The way this can impact sports athletes is that it can cause the athlete to see how their traits impact their performance. Interactional Theory Interactional theory believes that both the environment and personality influence behavior to the same extent. This theory looks at a multitude of sporting experiences and examines how personality types and learned behavior can be blended together to create a predictable outcome. An example of this is that if the extroverted player on a soccer team scores a goal, he will be just as excited as an introvert. They show arousal regardless of what trait they have because their arousal levels are very high. This will keep them excited for the rest of the game. Another example of when introverted or extroverted athletes show interactional theory is that if a goal is missed during training, there is not as much pressure on the players as practice. In a match, however, there is much more pressure because there are more people watching and therefore the situation and their reaction changes when a goal is missed. This will make the athlete feel down as there is a lot more pressure on them, so they will feel lower and less confident. This shows the link between environmental factors and personality factors that determine the type of behavior displayed by the athlete. In the 1950s there were two heart surgeons named Friedman and Rosenham. They had theories related to sports performance. The couple said that every person in the world would fall into the Type A or Type B personality. These personalities are challenged when someone has a high level of anxiety. Type A when under pressure would lack patience because they would like to win. They have a strong need to compete and achieve goals. They will rush tasks, so they will be happy to multitask within a time limit. They will start attacking others due to high levels of anxiety. Type B, however, may mean that the person is more relaxed around people and will want to find a tactical route around the problem. Their anxiety levels tend to be lower and they display high levels of imagination. In the type A personality they have factors where they lack patience, have a strong need for competition and have a great desire to achieve goals. To get tasks done, they rush and will happily multitask. However, they tend to have high levels of anxiety. A sports example of an athlete with a type A personality is before the gymnast competes and warms up, if the movements are not going well the gymnast would become anxious and start to feel frustrated with their partners. Their anxiety level will increase and they will not stop until they maintain a move. However, Type B personalities are more tolerant of others, which makes them more relaxed. Their anxiety levels are lower and they have higher imagination levels. A gymnastwith type B personalities he would stop everyone, calm them down and think about why the movement doesn't work. They would find the reason why the move isn't working and keep trying until it gets better. Therefore gymnasts will also remain calm and the movement is more likely to work. Motivational factorsThere are motivational factors in sport that increase sporting performance. Motivational factors make us more determined as there is a goal in the end. There are two different types of motivational factors. One of the factors is intrinsic, the other extrinsic. Intrinsic is where motivation has no external reward. The extrinsic is influenced by a reward such as a medal or money. In sports this motivates athletes as they receive a prize from someone else or achieve a personal goal. If I were to train an athlete like a 200 meter runner, I would motivate them using an intrinsic way of motivating the athlete. I would tell them to keep practicing. This would increase their knowledge of a skill. However, if the athlete is motivated by extrinsic factors, such as getting a medal at the end of a competition, a coach might do this to motivate their athlete more since they know that at the end there is a physical reward such as a medal . It should make the athlete feel like they have achieved results and deserve a reward. It also shows that their personal hard work has paid off. Another example of an athlete with an intrinsic way of being motivated is a boxer who would like an adrenaline rush with training since it is a high intensity sport. The stimulation will make the athlete feel like they have had a successful training session. If my athlete was an extrinsic boxer then I might use verbal praise. This will make them feel good about themselves. This is an intangible way of motivating them. To conclude, an athlete may prefer verbal praise because it shows the athlete that their coach is noticing their hard work. During sports participation there are many factors that will influence motivation and the relationship between coach and athlete. Factors can influence the good performance of the athlete. Factors that affect his motivation can also have a negative effect on the athlete. If an athlete is constantly praised during a session, it will become normal for him to hear "well done!" If a player is having a good week and the coach just praises him, once the player makes a mistake, it will make him feel down. Beyond that, by constantly listening to praise, no corrections will be made. This means that the athlete will not improve. When training a gymnast, the coach must build a strong relationship with the athlete. This will make the gymnast want to work hard for their coach. If a coach consistently behaves horribly, doesn't properly coach the gymnasts, or doesn't insult them, then the gymnast won't want to work and do well. My final example is that if the athlete starts to be bribed by their coach, they will find it normal to expect physical gifts/rewards such as money or treats. The environment has an impact on an athlete because if it rains and the sport is outdoors, then the rain will make the athlete not want to train. However, if the weather is nice, it will motivate the athlete to work as he will be in a better mood. Another example of how the environment will affect sports motivation is that if a 30-year-old woman wants to lose weight, you should consider the environment. you train her. If I took her to a gym with young people, depending on her personality, she would feel more motivated or not. If he has a calm personality, going to the gym in that situation could test his confidence. Attribution Theory This theory in sports can determine the.