Toward Developing Laboratory-Based Parent–Adolescent Conflict Discussion Tasks that Consistently Elicit Adolescent Conflict-Related Stress Responses: Support from Physiology and Observed Behavior

Parent–adolescent conflict poses risk for youth maladjustment. One potential mechanism of this risk is that stress in the form of increased arousal during conflict interactions results in adolescents’ impaired decision-making. However, eliciting consistent adolescent stress responses within laboratory-based tasks of parent–adolescent conflict (i.e., conflict discussion tasks) is hindered by task design. This limitation may stem from how conflict topics are assessed and selected for discussion. Within a sample of 47 adolescents (ages 14–17) and parents, we investigated whether a modified version of a conflict discussion task could elicit physiological (i.e., arousal) and behavioral (i.e., hostility) displays of adolescents’ conflict-related stress responses. We assessed parent–adolescent conflict via structured interview to identify topics for dyads to discuss during the task. We randomly assigned dyads to complete a 5-min task to discuss either a putatively benign topic (i.e., control condition) or a conflict topic while undergoing direct assessments of continuous arousal. Trained raters coded dyad members’ hostile behavior during the task. Adolescents in the conflict condition exhibited significantly greater levels of arousal than adolescents in the control condition. We observed an interaction between discussion condition and baseline conflict. Specifically, higher baseline conflict predicted greater hostile behavior for adolescents in the conflict condition, yet we observed the inverse relation for adolescents in the control condition. Our modified laboratory discussion task successfully elicited both physiological and behavioral displays of adolescent conflict-related stress. These findings have important implications for leveraging experimental paradigms to understand causal links between parent–adolescent conflict and adolescent psychopathology, and their underlying mechanisms.     

Effects of traditional and immersive video on anticipation in cricket: A temporal occlusion study

Traditional videos are frequently employed to assess anticipation within interceptive sports. However, there are limitations associated with traditional videos which impair the degree of correspondence between training interventions and competitive performances. Virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays allow for the presentation of immersive videos in 360-degrees that might offer a more effective means by which to train athletes. Nonetheless, there is a paucity of research examining the efficacy of immersive videos in a cricket context. The main purpose of the present investigation was to compare batters’ ability to accurately predict the landing location of deliveries, and assess their confidence in such predictions, when viewing traditional and immersive videos. We also examined the degree to which delivery style (i.e., bowling machine, throwdowns, spin, and pace bowling) impacted prediction accuracy and confidence scores. Forty deliveries (i.e., 10 per style; occluded at 120 ms post-ball release) were presented to amateur cricketers (N = 18) in traditional and immersive video conditions. Participants were required to anticipate the landing location of the ball and rate their prediction confidence after each delivery. Analyses indicated a main effect of viewing condition that applied only to prediction. Participants predicted the landing location of the ball with the greatest accuracy in the immersive video footage condition. There was a main effect of delivery style for confidence only, with higher scores observed in the throwdown, spin, and pace conditions, when compared to the bowling machine. Given the increasing rate at which VR is becoming accessible, immersive videos should be considered by sport psychologists as an effective means by which to assess anticipation in cricket.     

Enduring stress: A quantitative analysis on coping profiles and sport well-being in amateur endurance athletes

Endurance athletes experience physical and psychological stress during training and competition that can inhibit performance and promote negative health implications (i.e., lower well-being) without proper coping mechanisms (McCormick et al., 2018; Sakar & Fletcher, 2014). Additionally, these athletes that train at an amateur level have received limited attention regarding coping with stress and how it impacts well-being (McCormick et al., 2018). The purpose of this study was threefold: to (a) determine common coping profiles of trained amateur endurance athletes, (b) explore the relationship between sport well-being and these coping profiles, and (c) examine the potential roles that appraisals might play in the coping-well-being relationship. The results yielded five distinct coping profiles: Mixed Adaptive Copers (MAC), Mixed Maladaptive Copers (MMC), Engaged Copers (EC), Avoidant Copers (AC), and Social Copers (SC). Coping profiles differed across various variables including sport well-being, appraisals, and demographic factors. Overall, MAC and EC had higher levels of sport well-being. MAC viewed stressors as a challenge (i.e., opportunity) compared to EC and AC. These findings suggest the complex nature of coping in sport and that athletes should develop an assortment of coping strategies that provide different strategies for various stressful situations.     

The trichotomous model and investment in learning to prepare for a sport test: A mediational analysis

Background: Contemporary views on motivation suggest that the approach‐avoidance achievement goals conceptualisation — namely the trichotomous model — can shed light on the important issue of student motivation. Aims: To test the predictive value of the trichotomous model on the investment in learning a sport task for test preparation, and to validate a model which included a set of psychological processes (i.e., state anxiety and competence valuation) which mediate the relationship between the three goals (i.e., performance‐approach, performance‐avoidance, and mastery goals) and test preparation. The study was designed to investigate the direct and mediational effects of three experimental goal conditions on the time in which pupils prepared for a sport test. Sample: French male school pupils (N = 75). Pupils were aged 13‐15 years and attended schools in southern France. Method: Pupils prepared themselves for a sport task with a 5‐minute period of training, and performed in one of three experimental conditions to which they were randomly assigned: a performance goal with a positive outcome focus (performance‐approach), a performance goal with a negative outcome focus (performance‐avoidance), or a mastery goal. Results: Pupils in the performance‐avoidance group reported higher state anxiety and lower competence valuation than those in the performance‐approach and mastery groups, and this psychological state was associated with less time taken to prepare for the test. Conclusion: School pupils placed in an examination preparation context that elicits a performance goal with a negative outcome focus (performance‐avoidance) show motivational deficits which manifest themselves in less time spent practising. The trichotomous model appears to be valid for the study of motivational processes in school physical education.     

Sport type and interpersonal and intrapersonal predictors of body dissatisfaction in high school female sport participants

Through multiple group structural equation modeling analyses, path models were used to test the predictive effects of sport type and both interpersonal (i.e., mothers’ body dissatisfaction, family dynamics) and intrapersonal factors (i.e., athletic self-efficacy, body mass index [BMI]) on high school female sport participants’ (N = 627) body dissatisfaction. Sport types were classified as esthetic/lean (i.e., gymnastics), non-esthetic/lean (i.e., cross-country), or non-esthetic/non-lean (i.e., softball). Most participants reported low body dissatisfaction, and body dissatisfaction did not differ across sport types. Nevertheless, mothers’ body dissatisfaction was positively associated with daughters’ body dissatisfaction for non-esthetic/lean and non-esthetic/non-lean sport participants, and high family cohesion was predictive of body dissatisfaction among non-esthetic/lean sport participants. Across sport types, higher BMI was associated with greater body dissatisfaction, whereas greater athletic self-efficacy was associated with lower body dissatisfaction. These findings highlight the complex relationship between interpersonal and intrapersonal factors and body dissatisfaction in adolescent female sport participants.     

Personality and performance in real-world competitions: Testing trait activation of fear of negative evaluation,dispositional reinvestment,and athletic identity in the field

ObjectivesBased on the trait activation principle, researchers have tested whether personality traits are capable of predicting sport performance (under pressure). Typically, however, these investigations followed experimental approaches in the laboratory and only rarely in the field. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to test for the generalizability of findings gained in these experimental studies and to investigate potential trait activation for real-world performance in competitions. Based on prior studies on the prediction of performance under pressure, the selected personality traits involved fear of negative evaluation, dispositional reinvestment, and athletic identity.DesignPersonality traits were used as predictors for low-pressure and high-pressure basketball free-throw performance.MethodFirst, 53 basketball players completed trait questionnaires. Second, directly prior to performance assessments, participants reported on perceived importance, their somatic and cognitive state anxiety, and confidence. Third, free-throw performance was assessed in a low-pressure condition (i.e., successful free-throw percentage for 30 attempts) and repeatedly in 12 high-pressure conditions within real basketball matches (i.e., successful free-throw percentage for total attempts).ResultsTwo main findings were identified: First, none of the traits predicted performance under low pressure. Second, under high-pressure, only fear of negative evaluation as well as state anxiety were significantly negatively associated with performance in competitions.ConclusionThese results extend existing literature and add applied and ecologically valid empirical support for the relevance of anxiety-related traits (i.e., fear of negative evaluation) and states for performance under pressure in real-world competitions, emphasizing the importance of self-presentational considerations in athletes when the stakes are high.     

The Concept of Advantage in Sport

The aim of this paper is to analyse the concept of advantage in sport. Advantage is often referred to in discussions of the philosophy of sport, but only a few analyses of the term exist. Sigmund Loland has discussed advantage most comprehensibly. Nevertheless, his view does not address all of the relevant kinds of advantage. I begin with a summary of Loland's view and then show its limitations. I continue by developing his ideas further to present what I call performance advantage, a comparative relationship between numbers attributed to performances. For instance, the performance of a football team that beat its opponent 3–2 is given a numerical value. However, another kind of advantage exists, one that I label property advantage. This term refers to advantage as a comparative relationship between different properties that affect performances. For example, a runner may have more haemoglobin than his or her competitor. I then outline the relationship between the two meanings of advantage. Finally, I summarise by stating that advantage in sport is a relationship of superiority that can be divided into performance advantage and property advantage.     

领导–下属心理资本一致性对周边绩效的影响——工作关系与私人关系的中介作用

本文基于相似吸引理论,考察了领导–下属心理资本一致性能否影响双方的工作关系(领导–下属交换,LMX)和私人关系(领导–下属关系,SSG),继而塑造下属的周边绩效。采用多项式回归和响应面分析技术,对164份领导–下属配对数据进行分析,结果表明：领导–下属心理资本越一致,双方的LMX和SSG越高;在一致情形下,与“低–低一致”相比,”高–高一致”时的LMX和SSG更高。领导–下属心理资本一致性通过LMX、SSG影响下属的周边绩效。以上结果能为如何有效利用心理资本管理领导–下属的人际互动、下属周边绩效提供启发。     

Tension-stress,effort-stress and mood profiling with an elite javelin performer

Objective: The relationships between mood profile and athletic performance have never been clear. The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of these emotional mental states on sport performance from a different theoretical and methodological perspective from that used in previous studies.Method and design: We examined the relationships between precompetitive affective experience and performance for an elite javelin thrower at seven track and field events using a time series model for single subject designs and from a reversal theory perspective.Results and conclusion: Levels of pleasant emotions were found to be consistently higher than levels of unpleasant emotions and it appears that the hedonic tone of precompetitive emotions (i.e., pleasant vs unpleasant emotions) is ineffective in differentiating good and poor achievement. Nevertheless, when considering individual moods instead of emotional groupings, placidity, anger, boredom and provocativeness scores were found to fluctuate significantly between the best and worst performances of the season. This improves knowledge about core values and desired feelings experienced by this athlete before his best and his worst event. As a result, it seems more likely to build effective preperformance behavioral routines.     

Understanding The Curvilinear Relationships between LMX Differentiation and Team Coordination and Performance

The leader–member exchange (LMX) literature argues that leaders develop different quality dyadic relationships with members in the same team (i.e., LMX differentiation). Research has generally not found support for a linear (i.e., main effect) relationship between LMX differentiation and team performance; rather, moderators typically determine whether the relationship is significantly positive or negative. Examining linear effect moderators alone, however, does not account for (a) potential curvilinear (i.e., inverted U‐shaped) effects, (b) explanatory mechanisms of how LMX differentiation influences team performance, or (c) moderators of curvilinear effects. Integrating social identity theory with LMX differentiation research, we propose inverted U‐shaped relationships between LMX differentiation and both team coordination (as a mediator) and team performance (as an outcome), and we examine both team size and team power distance orientation as moderators. Using data from 928 employees in 145 teams in 3 organizations, we found an inverted U‐shaped relationship between LMX differentiation and team coordination, which, in turn, partially mediated LMX differentiation's inverted U‐shaped relationship with team performance. Larger teams, or those with higher team power distance orientation, benefit more from LMX differentiation. By integrating social identity theory with LMX differentiation research, we enhance the understanding of the processes by, and conditions under, which LMX differentiation affects team performance both positively and negatively.     

Examining the moderating effects of time on task and task complexity on the within person self-efficacy and performance relationship

ObjectivesThe study examined two moderating variables that may influence the direction of the effect of self-efficacy upon performance, namely; time spent on task and task complexity.DesignMultilevel analysis was conducted to examine within person and between group relationships.MethodEighty eight novice golfers putted in 4 sessions over a period of 2 days (completing 800 putts in total). Each session contained 10 trials of 20 putts. The golfers were split into 2 conditions; a stable task condition where task requirements remained constant across time and a dynamic task condition, where task complexity changed across time.ResultsIn early learning (i.e., the first 10 trials) results revealed a slight negative effect between self-efficacy and subsequent performance. However, across the 40 trials self-efficacy had a positive effect upon subsequent performance. Further, there was a significant task condition (stable vs. dynamic) interaction. In the easy task condition, self-efficacy showed a slight (but non-significant) positive effect upon performance. However, in the dynamic learning condition, self-efficacy had a positive and significant effect upon subsequent performance.ConclusionPrevious tests of the within person self-efficacy relationship tend to limit learning to 10 trials or less. The study is the first to examine the reciprocal relationship between self-efficacy and performance as a result of task experience (i.e., time spent on the task) and task complexity simultaneously. Positive effects emerged as a result of extended time learning the task and by varying the degree of task complexity whilst learning.     

The female athletic role as a status determinant within the social systems of high school adolescents

This study examined the relationship between female athletic participation and status attainment within the social status systems of high school adolescents. Although earlier research has consistently demonstrated that the athletic role for males is associated with greatest status within the school, findings regarding the status of female athletes have been contradictory: Some studies have found high status rankings for female athletes while others have revealed negative results. It was therefore argued that current research go beyond the general construct of "female athlete" and consider the type of sport with which the adolescent female is associated as a possible status determinant. Employing a sport typology proposed by Metheny (1967), it was predicted that females associated with sex-appropriate or "feminine" sports (e.g., tennis) would receive significantly higher status ratings than those identified with sex-inappropriate or "masculine" sports (e.g., basketball). One hundred and twenty-one male subjects were asked to indicate which female athlete (associated with a sex-appropriate versus a sex-inappropriate sport) they would most like to date, while 111 female subjects were asked to choose which female athlete they would most like to have as a friend. Chi-square analyses revealed that, as predicted, females associated with sex-appropriate sports were given significantly greater status than females identified with sex-inappropriate sports by both male and female subjects. These results suggest that social assessments made about female sport participation within high school status systems remain heavily influenced by traditional beliefs regarding feminine, "ladylike" behavior.     

The Dynamic Relationships of Work Affect and Job Satisfaction with Perceptions of Fit

This study assessed the longitudinal relationship between perceived fit (i.e., person–organization fit, person–job fit) and affect‐based variables (i.e., job satisfaction, negative affect, positive affect) using momentary (i.e., within‐person level) and stable (i.e., between‐person level) assessments of both sets of variables. In doing so, we tested 3 theoretical models of the perceived fit and work affect relationship (i.e., fit preceding affect; affect preceding fit; reciprocal fit–affect relations) to determine (a) the antecedents and consequences of fit perceptions, (b) whether fit perceptions exhibit meaningful within‐person variability, and (c) if direct fit perceptions are simply the result of affect/job satisfaction at work or can influence such work experiences. In addition, we examined whether the relationships between affect/job satisfaction and fit perceptions were homologous (i.e., similar) across the 2 levels of analysis (i.e., within‐person and between‐person). Results indicated that fit primarily preceded affect and job satisfaction at both levels of analysis, though some specific relationships exhibited reciprocal causality and others supported affect as an antecedent of fit perceptions. Our findings paint a complex picture of the causal relationship between perceived fit and work affect.     

A Curvilinear Relationship Between Work Engagement and Job Performance: the Roles of Feedback-Seeking Behavior and Personal Resources

Drawing from conservation of resources theory, this study examines the curvilinear relationship between employees’ work engagement and their job performance; the authors also hypothesize that employees’ feedback-seeking behavior is a pertinent boundary condition that mitigates this curvilinear relationship. Personal resources likely mediate the work engagement–job performance relationship too. Data gathered from 190 employees and their supervisors in Ukraine (study 1) and from 171 employees and their supervisors in Pakistan (study 2) reveal that although work engagement enhances job performance, the effect occurs at a declining rate as work engagement increases. Feedback-seeking behavior moderates this curvilinear relationship, so the decline in the rate at which work engagement enhances job performance is mitigated by higher levels of feedback-seeking behavior. Furthermore, after controlling for the role of feedback-seeking behavior, the curvilinear effect of work engagement on job performance is mediated by personal resources (i.e., self-efficacy, optimism, and resilience). These findings have significant implications for research and practice.

     

Athlete leadership dispersion and satisfaction in interactive sport teams

ObjectiveAthlete leadership on sport teams can be represented by an individual occupying a formal or informal leadership role within a team who influences a group of team members to achieve a common goal [Loughead, Hardy, & Eys, (2006). The nature of athlete leadership. Journal of Sport Behavior, 29, 142–158]. Previous research has suggested that individuals involved in sport view the presence of athlete leaders as a crucial component to the effective functioning of the team [Glenn & Horn, (1993) Psychological and personal predictors of leadership behavior in female soccer athletes. Journal Applied of Sport psychology, 5, 17–34]. The purpose of the present study was to examine, at both the beginning and end of a competitive season, the relationship between individual perceptions of athlete leader dispersion across three types of leadership functions (i.e., task, social, external) and satisfaction.MethodParticipants included 218 intercollegiate athletes from a variety of interactive team sports. At the beginning and end of their competitive seasons, athletes indicated who the task, social, and external leaders were on their respective teams and responded to four dimensions of the Athlete Satisfaction Questionnaire [Riemer & Chelladurai, (1998) Development of the Athlete Satisfaction Questionnaire (ASQ). Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 20, 127–156].ResultsThose who perceived all three leadership functions to be represented to the same degree (i.e., higher number of leaders for all three functions, an average number of leaders for all three functions, or a lower number of leaders for all three functions) were more satisfied with their team's performance and degree to which the team was integrated than those individuals who perceived an imbalance in the number of athletes engaging in those functions.ConclusionThe relative number of leaders within sport groups is related to individual perceptions of satisfaction.     

Regularity of unit length boosts statistical learning in verbal and nonverbal artificial languages

Humans have remarkable statistical learning abilities for verbal speech-like materials and for nonverbal music-like materials. Statistical learning has been shown with artificial languages (AL) that consist of the concatenation of nonsense word-like units into a continuous stream. These ALs contain no cues to unit boundaries other than the transitional probabilities between events, which are high within a unit and low between units. Most AL studies have used units of regular lengths. In the present study, the ALs were based on the same statistical structures but differed in unit length regularity (i.e., whether they were made out of units of regular vs. irregular lengths) and in materials (i.e., syllables vs. musical timbres), to allow us to investigate the influence of unit length regularity on domain-general statistical learning. In addition to better performance for verbal than for nonverbal materials, the findings revealed an effect of unit length regularity, with better performance for languages with regular- (vs. irregular-) length units. This unit length regularity effect suggests the influence of dynamic attentional processes (as proposed by the dynamic attending theory; Large & Jones (Psychological Review 106: 119–159, 1999)) on domain-general statistical learning.     

The 5C’s Model of Successful Partnerships in Elite Beach Volleyball Dyads

An athlete–athlete partnership is a form of athletic dyad in which both members equally share power and responsibility. Although research on the coach–athlete relationship is prevalent, research on the unique interpersonal dynamics of athlete–athlete partnerships in elite sport is sparse, particularly in beach volleyball. The purpose of the present study was to explore the interpersonal components of successful, elite athlete–athlete beach volleyball partnerships through the lens of interdependence theory and Jowett and colleagues’ 3?+?1C’s theory of coach–athlete relationships. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was applied to semistructured interviews with four Olympic-level beach volleyball players (3 male, 1 female). Results revealed 5 higher order themes: (a) compatibility, (b) commitment, (c) complementarity, (d) coorientation, and (e) closeness, which became the key constructs in the proposed 5C’s model of the successful athlete–athlete partnership. Interpersonal awareness, interpersonal maturation, and context were identified as 3 overarching meta-themes, whereas interdependence connected all interpersonal components. For example, in consultation, increasing athlete individual and interpersonal awareness (e.g., in the areas of personal and dyadic philosophy, personal and shared values, and individual and dyadic coping) requires careful contextualization and thoughtful implementation. Future studies need to examine diverse samples of athlete–athlete dyads to advance interpersonal theory in sport and add to emerging theories of performance behavior and expertise in sport.

Lay Summary: Successful beach volleyball partnerships share a philosophy and commitment to their sport. Desired partners are supportive and adaptive, are compatible, depend on one another, and continually appraise and reflect on their relationship to grow as individuals and as teammates.     

Performance Expectations of Salespeople: The Role of Past Performance and Causal Attributions in Independent and Interdependent Cultures

The study compares the role of self-reported causal attributions of past performance on self-generated expectations of future performance among salespeople from independent and interdependent national cultures. The results suggest that salespeople from independent cultures attribute successful past performance to internal factors (i.e., effort or ability), but not external factors (i.e., luck or organizational support). Salespeople from interdependent cultures, however, attribute successful performances to both internal and external factors. Furthermore, the relationship between past performance and future performance expectation is mediated by internal or external causal attributions depending upon whether the salespeople operate in independent or interdependent cultures, respectively.     

Does monopedal postural balance differ between the dominant leg and the non-dominant leg? A review

The interlimb postural comparison i.e., between the dominant leg and the non-dominant leg has been studied by numerous authors but their results are contradictory and do not lead to a consensus. Some studies showed no difference of postural balance between the dominant and the non-dominant leg whereas other studies concluded that the dominant and non-dominant leg exhibit different postural balance in healthy subjects and athletes. The aim was to analyse all these studies in order to identify the different factors that could facilitate or prevent the appearance of a postural difference between the dominant and non-dominant leg by means of a narrative review. Environmental and experimental conditions (e.g., difficulty and specificity of postural tasks; physiological state, expertise level and moment of season/period over career of subjects/athletes evaluated and nature of sport/physical activity practiced; techniques and methods used for measuring postural balance) in which postural balance is evaluated and intrinsic/individual factors (e.g., morphology, strength/power muscle, proprioception, hemispheric laterality) could influence the results. Thus, the influence of limb dominance on monopedal postural balance would probably be context-dependent. Mechanistic explanations are proposed to explain how each factor could act on the relationship between limb dominance and postural balance. However many mechanisms have not yet been explained and all the factors have not been identified, which suggests that further exploratory research is needed in order to understand this relationship.     

Constructing Gender Incommensurability in Competitive Sport: Sex/Gender Testing and the New Regulations on Female Hyperandrogenism

The segregation of the sexes in sport still seems to be regarded as a matter of course. In contrast to other performance classes, e.g., age and weight, which are constructed on the grounds of directly relevant performance features, in the case of gender it is dealt with the merely statistical factor that women on average perform less well than men. And yet unlike weight or age classes, which can be interchanged if the required performances are provided, the segregation between the sexes in many types of sport seems to be quite impermeable. Contrary to popular beliefs women were not excluded from the beginning of modern sport. Hence, the meaning of gender differences varies in the course of time and in types of sport. Thus, this paper firstly gives a short summary of the different relevance of gender differences in high performance competitions of various types of sport. Then the historical construction of gender as central dimension in modern sport will be illustrated by using the example of soccer. Here in this paper, the elaborate processes of reproducing this incommensurability between women and men in sport is the main focus: At first big sport organisations tried to exclude women whose performances were well above the expectations by establishing so called “Gender verifications” which suspected them of fraud. Although it became certain that there is no clear differentiation between the sexes, gender segregation was not abolished. Instead new regulations have been invented to treat and “normalise” people who are difficult to categorise, e.g., transsexuals and women with Hyperandrogenism, in order to subsume them into the existent gender categories. So finally, gender segregation in sport seems to be just another example for Goffman’s institutional reflexivity: While the separation of the competitions are said to be a natural consequence of the differences between men and women, it actually is just a tool to create those differences.