Self-efficacy,mental models and team adaptation: A first approach on football and futsal refereeing

ObjectiveWithin the football and futsal refereeing context, even though referees work within teams, there is very little research considering the implications of team dynamics. In response, this study starts to address this gap in the literature by investigating the moderating effect of mental models on the relationship between self-efficacy beliefs and perceptions of team adaptation within the exciting context of professional and national football and futsal refereeing.DesignWe obtained online questionnaires from 339 active football and futsal referees within the National and Professional league at two distinct points (April and May) within the football season.ResultsSelf-efficacy beliefs were positively associated with perceptions of team adaptation (only for football referees). Mental models were positively associated with team adaptation. Likewise, the moderation between mental models and self-efficacy beliefs was positively associated with perceptions of team adaptation. However, such an effect was only significant at the futsal referees’ level.ConclusionThis study emphasises the importance of mental models for team adaptation and the importance of self-efficacy beliefs in predicting perceptions of team adaptation. We hope that this study represents the first step in a greater appreciation of the salience of team dynamics and their impact on football and futsal referees’ performance and that future research can build upon our work.     

The effect of red and blue uniforms on competitive anxiety and self-confidence in virtual sports contests

IntroductionThe present study aimed to examine the effect of blue and red uniform colors on competitive anxiety and self-confidence in virtual sports competitions.ObjectiveWe hypothesized that blue is related to higher levels of self-confidence (a feeling related to the approach motivational system), whereas red is related to higher levels of anxiety (a feeling related to the avoidance motivational system).MethodParticipants were confronted with an opponent dressed in either blue or in red.ResultsResults revealed that participants who were exposed to an opponent in blue reported a higher level of self-confidence, while those who were exposed to an opponent in red reported a higher level of cognitive anxiety, supporting the view that blue (red) is related to the approach (avoidance) motivational system.ConclusionOur findings incite a pursuit of the examination of the relationship between blue, red, competitive anxiety, and self-confidence in sport competitions.     

The effect of red color on perceived self‐attractiveness

Recent research showed that individuals are perceived as more attractive when presented with the color red. We seek to extend these findings by studying the effects of red color on individuals' perception of self‐attractiveness, rather than the attractiveness of others. Based on the color‐in‐context theory, we hypothesized that individuals would perceive themselves as more attractive under red chromatic conditions. In three experiments, participants were asked to wear a red or a blue shirt and rated their own attractiveness. As expected, participants in the red shirt condition indicated a higher level of self‐attractiveness than participants in the blue condition. Moreover, the results showed that the self‐perception red effect was mediated by the individuals' self‐perceived sexual receptivity and self‐perceived status.     

The assistant referees’ activity in refereeing elite football: Preoccupations when not judging offside

ObjectiveThe purpose of this research was to study the preoccupations assistant referees had to participate in decision making about duels during football games.DesignResearch adopted a phenomenological framework to investigate the assistant referees’ lived experiences in order to understand their activity when they judged duels in match.MethodThis study investigated six professional football matches. Researchers conducted a participatory observation of the refereeing team before each match. Twelve self-confrontation interviews with each assistant referee of each match were conducted in order to make him/her describing his/her unfolding lived experience during the match.ResultsIn case of players’ duels, the perception of contextual cues enabled the assistants to appraise the occurring of a decision process with the central referee. For the assistants, the occurring of a decision process with the central referee meant his priority to intervene in the adjudication of duels, while the absence of decision process with the central referee meant for the assistants the possibility to intervene. The assistants adjusted their way of judging duels to how the central referee judged the previous ones.ConclusionsThe participation of assistants in decision making about duels depends on their preoccupations concerning the central referee’s priority. The way assistants perceive the central referee’s contextual judgment shapes the way they adjudicate duels. A latent intention to coordinate with the central referee, in relation with their collaborative tasks, is embedded in their preoccupations. Our results are a platform to develop further research about the referees’ collective activity.     

Rod involvement in peripheral color processing

Abstract.— It has previously been suggested that rods act as blue receptors in peripheral color vision. Two experiments examining this issue were conducted. Experiment 1 investigated the perceived hue of a test light presented at a luminance level above chromatic threshold. At 8° in the periphery, the 500 nm test light was perceived as more blue under conditions of dark adaptation than after light adaptation. Similar differences were not found for foveal presentation. The increased blue in the periphery after dark adaptation was attributed to a rod contribution. In Experiment 2 an attempt was made to mix a rod contribution obtained with a 470 nm light below chromatic threshold, with a cone color obtained from a 670 nm light presented above chromatic threshold. No evidence was obtained to support the idea that a blue produced by rods stimulated below chromatic threshold could mix with a red produced by cones stimulated above chromatic threshold. The results are discussed in terms of a rod contribution to hue which is dependent on the luminance level of short wavelength stimulation.     

Cognitive representation of auditory space in blind football experts

ObjectivesWe compared the mental representation of sound directions in blind football players, blind non-athletes and sighted individuals.DesignStanding blindfolded in the middle of a circle with 16 loudspeakers, participants judged whether the directions of two subsequently presented sounds were similar or not.MethodStructure dimensional analysis (SDA) was applied to reveal mean cluster solutions for the groups.ResultsHierarchical cluster analysis via SDA resulted in distinct representation structures of sound directions. The blind football players' mean cluster solution consisted of pairs of neighboring directions. The blind non-athletes also clustered the directions in pairs, but included non-adjacent directions. In the sighted participants' structure, frontal directions were clustered pairwise, the absolute back was singled out, and the side regions accounted for more directions.ConclusionsOur results suggest that the mental representation of egocentric auditory space is influenced by sight and by the level of expertise in auditory-based orientation and navigation.     

The influence of crowd noise and experience upon refereeing decisions in football

Objective. The existence of the home advantage in sport is well known. There is growing evidence that crowd noise plays a crucial part in this phenomenon. Consequently, a quantitative study was undertaken to examine influence of crowd noise upon refereeing decisions in association football (soccer). The association between years of experience and any imbalance in refereeing decisions was also addressed.Methods. To investigate whether the presence or absence of crowd noise might influence qualified referees when assessing various tackles/challenges recorded on videotape. Binary logistic regression was used to assess the effect of crowd noise and years of experience on referees' decisions.Results. The presence of crowd noise had a dramatic effect on the decisions made by referees. Those viewing the challenges with background crowd noise were more uncertain in their decision making and awarded significantly fewer fouls (15.5%) against the home team, compared with those watching in silence.Conclusions. The noise of the crowd influenced referees' decisions to favour the home team. It is suggested that referees' decisions are influenced by the salient nature of crowd noise, the potential use of heuristic strategies, and the need to avoid potential crowd displeasure by making a decision in favour of the home team.     

How Red,Blue, and Green are Affectively Judged

The present study aimed at examining how the colors red, blue, and green were affectively judged through three variables: dominance, arousal, and pleasure. All participants were exposed to red, blue, green, and white (control condition), which were created using the hue–saturation–value color model. Then, participants were invited to rate their perceptions using the self‐assessment manikin. Results showed that (a) red was strongly associated with dominance and arousal; (b) blue was moderately and slightly associated with dominance and arousal, respectively; (c) green was slightly associated with arousal; and (d) blue and green were slightly more pleasurable than red. These results provide initial insights into how people perceive colors through the notions of dominance, arousal, and pleasure. Important practical implications for the use of colors are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relevant implication and the weak deduction theorem

It is shown that the implicational fragment of Anderson and Belnap's R, i.e. Church's weak implicational calculus, is not uniquely characterized by MP (modus ponens), US (uniform substitution), and WDT (Church's weak deduction theorem). It is also shown that no unique logic is characterized by these, but that the addition of further rules results in the implicational fragment of R. A similar result for E is mentioned.I am grateful to the referees; their comments enabled me to correct a mistake and to clarify several passages.     

A Pre-Match Video Self-Modeling Intervention in Elite Youth Football

In this study, a self-modelling video intervention was delivered to four elite youth soccer players over 13 weeks of the competitive soccer season. A multiple-baseline, repeated measures single-subject design was used to explore the impact of the intervention on subcomponents of soccer performance and psychological variables, including self-efficacy and positive/negative affect. Statistical analysis indicated that there were significant changes between pre- and post-intervention scores for two players (1 & 3) on three subcomponents of performance (turns, headers and tackles). The findings of this study highlight the potential benefits of designing individualised pre-match video interventions with elite youth athletes.

Lay Summary:

Video self-modelling (VSM) is a behavioural intervention in which an athlete views a video of themselves engaged in adaptive behaviour, in order to learn to reproduce it effectively under pressure. In this study, the impact of a self-modelling video intervention is examined within a youth football soccer environment.     

An Exploration of the Experiences of Elite Youth Footballers: The Impact of Organizational Culture

The present study explored how the organizational cultural experiences of elite youth footballers shaped their identity development and behavior. The first author occupied the position of sport psychology practitioner-researcher within 1 professional football club over 3 years. Traditional ethnographic research methods were employed, including observations, field notes, reflections, and informal interviews. A cultural sport psychology perspective on identity as a social construction and research on the cultural characteristics of professional football were used as frameworks to make sense of the data. Despite the introduction of the Elite Player Performance Plan in 2012, the traditional masculine culture of professional football dominated the studied club. Creative nonfiction vignettes revealed that youth players were encouraged to develop their self-stories focused on a single-minded dedication to professional football. The limited identity-related resources offered at both club and cultural level are detrimental for players in terms of their well-being and long-term psychological development. From the results of this study, we suggest that future sports psychology practice within professional football may best be delivered at an organizational level. However, for sport psychologists to be effective in this role, they must develop an understanding of the subcultural features and characteristics of the organization. In line with this, there would be great value in introducing a focus on organizational culture within sport psychology professional training and education routes.

Lay Summary: This paper explores the impact of the professional football culture on the psychological development of elite youth footballers. From the findings we suggest that sport psychology should be delivered at an organisational level.     

Failure to replicate the Mehta and Zhu (2009) color-priming effect on anagram solution times

Mehta and Zhu (Science, 323, 1226–1229, 2009) hypothesized that the color red induces avoidance motivation and that the color blue induces approach motivation. In one experiment, they reported that anagrams of avoidance motivation words were solved more quickly on red backgrounds and that approach motivation anagrams were solved more quickly on blue backgrounds. Reported here is a direct replication of that experiment, using the same anagrams, instructions, and colors, with more than triple the number of participants used in the original study. The results did not show the Mehta and Zhu color-priming effects, even though statistical power was sufficient to detect the effect. The results call into question the existence of their color-priming effect on the solution of anagrams.     

Dressing for success: Effects of color and layering on perceptions of women in business

This study examines the effect on perceived competence of colors and layers in traditional business attire. Forty-five St. Ambrose College Master's in Business Administration program students (11 female, 34 male) judged eight artist's sketches of prospective job applicants varying in sex, color of suit worn (red or blue) and presence or absence of a jacket (layering). Analysis of variance results confirmed hypotheses that a person wearing blue or a jacket was perceived as more competent and properly dressed than a person wearing red or no jacket. Furthermore, these variables had more impact on the perception of male targets than of female targets. Finally, although males with blue jackets were rated most highly, female targets were rated more favorably than males overall. Apparently, while only a particular style of dress is considered suitable for men, a specific business uniform does not yet seem to have fully emerged for women. What has emerged as suitable dress for women seems to be to merely adopt, to some extent, traditional male attire.We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Carolyn Pillers and Michael Jerin for their help in data analysis and Rachel Chouteau for the preparation of artistic materials.     

红色和蓝色对中国汉族大学生情绪的启动效应

通过3个实验探讨红色和蓝色对中国汉族大学生的情绪意义。实验1采用限制联想法考察红色和蓝色的情绪意义。实验2、实验3采用启动范式, 分别考察在知觉水平和概念水平上红色和蓝色对情绪的启动效应。结果发现：(1)知觉水平：在唤醒度和优势度上, 红色知觉引发了高唤醒、高优势情绪, 蓝色知觉引发了低唤醒、低优势情绪, 这与国外研究基本一致; 但在愉悦度上, 红色知觉既能引发高愉悦情绪, 也能引发低愉悦情绪, 而蓝色知觉只引发了高愉悦情绪, 这体现出本土化特点。(2)概念水平：在唤醒度和愉悦度上, 红色概念引发了高唤醒、高优势情绪, 蓝色概念引发了低唤醒、低优势情绪, 这与知觉水平基本一致; 但在愉悦度上, 红色概念只启动了高愉悦情绪, 而蓝色概念同时启动了高愉悦和低愉悦的情绪, 这与知觉水平不一致。本研究表明：(1)红色和蓝色对中国汉族大学生情绪引发的特点主要表现在愉悦度上; (2)颜色知觉和颜色概念对情绪的引发机制可能具有如下特点：颜色知觉对情绪的三维度具有直接的引发作用; 而颜色概念对情绪唤醒度和优势度的引发是以颜色知觉为中介, 对愉悦度的引发则是以社会文化为原因。本研究探讨了红色和蓝色对中国汉族大学生情绪的作用, 对红色和蓝色在中国社会环境中的应用具有一定的实际价值; 同时, 直接比较并剖析了颜色知觉与概念对情绪的引发特点, 对于揭示二者对情绪引发的内部机制具有一定的理论意义。     

Autoshaped responding: A baseline for studying stimulus preference

In an autoshaping procedure with pigeons, trials consisted of the illumination of two keys, each with a different color, and then a response-independent feeder operation. Over successive conditions, all key-color pairs were arranged from the set of amber, red, green, and blue lamps. During sessions with a given pair, the left-right configuration of the colors varied irregularly, and the two colors alternated in illuminating the feeder. With one red and one green key, for example, red appeared sometimes on the left and sometimes on the right, and the feeder was alternately lit red or green on successive trials. Both total pecks and proportion of trials with at least one peck on a key of a given color were generally greater for red and amber than for green and blue, and relations among preferences were generally transitive across different color pairs. Repeating the procedure with decreased red and amber intensities and increased green and blue intensities reduced red and amber pecking relative to green and blue pecking, implying that differences in responding were determined more strongly by intensive than by chromatic properties of the stimuli.     

Assimilation of achromatic color cannot explain the brightness effects in the achromatic neon effect

If the mouths of the pacmen of a Kanizsa square are colored, for example red, then an illusory red transparent square is seen. In many visual theories such 'neon color spreading' is explained by assimilation of chromatic and achromatic color. In this paper the achromatic case was investigated. In a two-alternative forced-choice task thirty observers judged the brightness of achromatic neon figures. The results suggest that assimilation of achromatic color inside and/or outside of the illusory figures cannot explain the brightness effects seen in achromatic neon color spreading. Although these displays may produce assimilation, it appears that contrast (perhaps acting nonlocally) is a stronger influence on their perceived brightness.     

Applying a relational lens to ethnographic inquiry: Storied insight into the inner workings of multicultural teams in men's elite football

ObjectiveTo examine the impact of transnational migration on the functioning of multicultural teams in men's elite football and to explore the cultural transition experiences of transnational players from the relational perspective of receiving football environments.Designand Method: This 26-month ethnographic study adopted a researcher-practitioner approach to investigate two elite European football clubs during the course of two complete seasons. Over 80 male participants from 18 different countries were involved in the approximately 1200 h of field observation (e.g., practices, games, closed-door meetings, etc.) and 50 h of transcribed interviews. Detailed field notes and interview data were thematically analyzed, followed by a narrative analysis of structure and form. Finally, the genre of ethnographic creative non-fiction was employed to present the findings.FindingsBy applying a relational lens to the study of cultural transitions, this investigation illuminates the centrality of relations in the daily functioning of multicultural teams embedded in transnational networks and spaces. The complex interactional dynamic between transnational players and members of the receiving environment as well as the structural constraints shaping footballing (sub)cultures and behaviours highlight the salience of restrained agency as a collective phenomenon in elite men's football. Moreover, the study explores the hows of cultural transition by engaging with temporality and proposing a complementary perspective that extends current understandings in the narration of cultural transition experiences.ConclusionsThe findings carry applied utility that can benefit stakeholders and practitioners working with culturally diverse teams in the deployment of culturally informed club management strategy, educational tools, and interventions.     

Social Judgment of Abortion: A Black-Sheep Effect in a Catholic Sheepfold

Abstract

French Catholic participants (N = 340) with high or low religious identification read 1 of 8 scenarios presented as an interview with a female target 2 months after she had had an abortion. The experimental device varied situational pressure (pressure vs. no pressure), the target's religious social identity (Catholic vs. neutral), and the consequences of abortion for the target (positive vs. negative). The participants then rated the acceptability of the target's decision. The participants judged abortion more negatively in the no-pressure condition. Moreover, the participants with high religious identification judged abortion more negatively than did those with low religious identification. In partial support of a black-sheep effect, the participants with high religious identification judged the Catholic target more negatively than they judged the neutral one in some conditions (pressure, negative consequences). In other conditions (no pressure, both positive and negative consequences), the participants with low religious identification judged the Catholic target more positively than they judged the neutral one.     

Implementation of a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program to reduce stress,anxiety, and depression and to improve psychological well-being among retired Iranian football players

ObjectivesTo test whether a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program could reduce symptoms of anxiety, stress, and depression, and increase psychological well-being among retired Iranian football players compared to an active control group.DesignRandomized controlled trial, with an 8-week MBSR intervention (16 group sessions, 90 min each) and an active control group. Three data assessments were performed at baseline, eight weeks later after completion of the intervention, and again twelve weeks later at follow-up.MethodsForty male retired football players (M_age = 34.05, SD = 1.72) were randomly assigned either to the MBSR intervention or the active control condition. All participants completed questionnaires on perceived stress, anxiety, depression, and psychological well-being. Repeated measures analyses of variance were used to assess time by group interactions.ResultsSignificant time by group interaction effects were found for all outcomes. In the MBSR group, psychological well-being improved and symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression decreased over time from baseline to intervention completion and to follow-up. In the active control group, the outcomes remained relatively stable across time.ConclusionsThe present findings suggest that among male retired Iranian football players, a MBSR intervention has the potential to reduce symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression, and to increase their psychological well-being. Potential (underlying) mechanisms were not assessed in the present study. In future investigations, researchers should try to gain a deeper understanding of the mechanisms which may explain the observed effects.