Catching moods and hitting runs: mood linkage and subjective performance in professional sport teams

Are the moods and subjective performances of professional sports players associated with the ongoing collective moods of their teammates? Players from 2 professional cricket teams used pocket computers to provide ratings of their moods and performances 3 times a day for 4 days during a competitive match between the teams. Pooled time-series analysis showed significant associations between the average of teammates' happy moods and the players' own moods and subjective performances; the associations were independent of hassles and favorable standing in the match. Mood linkage was greater when players were happier and engaged in collective activity. An intraperson analysis of data from these teams and 2 other teams showed that mood linkage was also greater for players who were older, more committed to the team, and more susceptible to emotional contagion. The results support and extend previous findings concerning mood linkage.     

Manual laterality and hitting performance in major league baseball.

Asymmetrical hand function was examined in the context of expert sports performance: hitting in professional baseball. An archival study was conducted to examine the batting performance of all Major League Baseball players from 1871 to 1992, focusing on those who batted left (n = 1,059) to neutralize the game asymmetry. Among them, left-handers (n = 421) were more likely to hit with power and to strike out than right-handers (n = 638). One possible account, based on the idea of hand dominance and an analogy to tennis, is that batting left involves a double-handed forehand for left-handers and a weaker and more reliable double-handed backhand for right-handers. The results are also interpretable in the light of Y. Guiard's (1987) kinematic chain model of a between-hands asymmetrical division of labor, which provides a detailed account of why left batting is optimal for left-handers.     

Mood and performance among defensive pessimists and strategic optimists

Results from two studies demonstrate that the effects of mood on performance depend on an individual’s strategy. In Study 1, naturally occurring positive mood was negatively related to performance for defensive pessimists (DPs), while negative mood was unrelated. For strategic optimists (SOs), neither positive nor negative mood was related to performance. In Study 2, positive or negative mood was induced prior to a set of performance measures. As predicted, DPs performed significantly better after the negative mood induction. SOs’ performance did not differ across mood conditions. Cognitive strategies and the mood as input model help to explain these results.     

"Markov at the bat": a model of cognitive processing in baseball batters

Anecdotal evidence from players and coaches indicates that cognitive processing (e.g., expectations about the upcoming pitch) plays an important role in successful baseball batting, yet this aspect of hitting has not been investigated in detail. The present study provides experimental evidence that prior expectations significantly influence the timing of a baseball swing. A two–state Markov model was used to predict the effects of pitch sequence and pitch count on batting performance. The model is a hitting strategy of switching between expectancy states using a simple set of transition rules. In a simulated batting experiment, the model provided a good fit to the hitting performance of 6 experienced college baseball players, and the estimated model parameters were highly correlated with playing level.     

When mistakes affecting one’s own group result in compensation: Evidence of a compensatory own goal effect

ObjectivesAlthough sports team members often value their teams highly, they sometimes make mistakes and thereby unintentionally put their teams at a disadvantage. Thus, they should be motivated to compensate for their mistake to resolve this discrepancy. To test this hypothesis, we studied whether professional soccer players compensate for their own goals by scoring regular goals in the same game (Study 1) and possible processes underlying such compensation efforts (Study 2).DesignIn Study 1, we compared how frequently prior own goal scorers scored a regular goal in the same game to (a) their expected goal scoring frequencies and (b) their probabilities to score a regular goal following a regular goal by the opposing team. In Study 2, we investigated four possible processes underlying the expected compensatory efforts.MethodWe analyzed all own goals from the first fifty years of the German Bundesliga (N = 889) and possible ensuing regular goals by the own goal scorer. Moreover, we surveyed amateur soccer players about four motives: group performance, individual performance, individual public image, and group public image.ResultsFollowing their own goals, professional soccer players are particularly likely to score regular goals in the same game (i.e., a compensatory own goal effect). Presumably, they primarily do so to secure a good group performance, but the other motives also play a role.ConclusionsGroup members who make highly visible mistakes are motivated to compensate for the disadvantage they caused. Presumably, they mainly do so to secure a good team performance.     

Round numbers as goals: evidence from baseball, SAT takers, and the lab

Where do people's reference points come from? We conjectured that round numbers in performance scales act as reference points and that individuals exert effort to perform just above rather than just below such numbers. In Study 1, we found that professional baseball players modify their behavior as the season is about to end, seeking to finish with a batting average just above rather than below .300. In Study 2, we found that high school students are more likely to retake the SAT after obtaining a score just below rather than above a round number. In Study 3, we conducted an experiment employing hypothetical scenarios and found that participants reported a greater desire to exert more effort when their performance was just short of rather than just above a round number.     

Approach-avoidance responses to infant facial expressions in nulliparous women: Associations with early experience and mood induction

Infant expressions are important signals for eliciting caregiving behaviors in parents. The present study sought to test if infant expressions affect adults’ behavioral response, taking into account the role of a mood induction and childhood caregiving experiences. A modified version of the Approach Avoidance Task (AAT) was employed to study nulliparous female university students’ implicit responses to infant faces with different expressions. Study 1 showed that sad, neutral and sleepy expressions elicit a tendency for avoidance, while no tendency for approach or avoidance was found for happy faces. Notably, differences between approach and avoidance response latencies for sad faces and participants’ negative caregiving experiences were positively correlated (r = 0.30, p = 0.04, Bonferroni corrected), indicating that individuals who experienced insensitive parental care show more bias toward sad infant faces. In Study 2, we manipulated participants' current mood (inducing sad and happy mood by asking to recall a happy or sad event of their recent life) before the AAT. Results showed that sad mood enhanced the bias toward sad faces that is buffered by positive mood induction. In conclusion, these findings indicate that implicit approach avoidance behaviors in females depend on the emotional expression of infant faces and are associated with childhood caregiving experiences and current mood.     

Memory for emotional faces in naturally occurring dysphoria and induced sadness

The aim was to establish if the memory bias for sad faces, reported in clinically depressed patients (Gilboa-Schechtman, Erhard Weiss, & Jeczemien, 2002; Ridout, Astell, Reid, Glen, & O'Carroll, 2003) generalises to sub-clinical depression (dysphoria) and experimentally induced sadness. Study 1: dysphoric (n = 24) and non-dysphoric (n = 20) participants were presented with facial stimuli, asked to identify the emotion portrayed and then given a recognition memory test for these faces. At encoding, dysphoric participants (DP) exhibited impaired identification of sadness and neutral affect relative to the non-dysphoric group (ND). At memory testing, DP exhibited superior memory for sad faces relative to happy and neutral. They also exhibited enhanced memory for sad faces and impaired memory for happy relative to the ND. Study 2: non-depressed participants underwent a positive (n = 24) or negative (n = 24) mood induction (MI) and were assessed on the same tests as Study 1. At encoding, negative MI participants showed superior identification of sadness, relative to neutral affect and compared to the positive MI group. At memory testing, the negative MI group exhibited enhanced memory for the sad faces relative to happy or neutral and compared to the positive MI group. Conclusion: MCM bias for sad faces generalises from clinical depression to these sub-clinical affective states.     

Attributional style and athletic performance: Strategic optimism and defensive pessimism

ObjectivesTwo studies examined the relationship between explanatory style measured with the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ), Peterson, Semmel, von Baeyer, Abramson, Metalsky, and Seligman (1982. The Attributional Style Questionnaire. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 6, 287–299) and athletic performance.DesignCorrelational designs were used to examine relationships between the predictor variables of attributional style and dispositional optimism and the criterion variable of athletic performance. Study one also examined the effect of soccer match outcome as a moderational factor.MethodFor study 1, 20 male soccer players completed the ASQ and their performance across eight matches was videotaped and coded on a variety of measures (goals, fouls, attempted passes, completed passes). For study 2, 18 female basketball players completed both the ASQ and the Life Orientation Test (LOT), Scheier and Carver (1978. Optimism, coping and health: Assessment and implications of generalized outcome expectancies. Health Psychology, 4, 219–247). Relationships between these scales and a variety of performance measures were examined.ResultsConsistent with findings from Seligman, Nolen-Hoeksema, Thornton, N., and Thornton, K. (1990. Explanatory style as a mechanism of disappointing athletic performance. Psychological Science, 1, 143–146), a significant positive relationship was found between the ASQ measure of optimism and athletic performance among the soccer players in study 1. In addition, optimistic soccer players demonstrated better performance during a loss than did pessimists, whereas no significant performance differences were found between these two groups during a subsequent win. Findings from study 2 were less consistent, revealing both positive (optimists had more assists and steals) and negative (optimists had fewer rebounds and more fouls) relationships. A subsequent content analysis of the open-ended responses on the ASQ suggests that the observed negative relationships were a function of these female athletes attributing negative outcomes to lack of effort (defensive pessimism) as opposed to lack of ability (depressive pessimism).ConclusionsThe findings highlight the need to differentiate between these two forms of pessimism and their differential impact on performance. The importance of including an assessment of perceived controllability as an attributional dimension in future research is discussed.     

The two roads from passion to sport performance and psychological well-being: The mediating role of need satisfaction,deliberate practice,and achievement goals

ObjectivesResearch on passion has demonstrated the existence of two roads toward sports performance through the effects of deliberate practice (Vallerand et al., 2007, 2008). The first emanates from harmonious passion (HP) and contributes to both performance and psychological well-being. The second stems from obsessive passion (OP), and performance comes at the cost of well-being. The present research proposes that need satisfaction (Deci & Ryan, 2000) mediates the relation of HP, but not OP, with both outcomes. In Study 2, achievement goals were added to the model. Mastery goals were expected to mediate the positive relation between HP and outcomes, whereas performance-avoidance goals would be associated with OP and, thus be detrimental to athletes.DesignTwo studies using correlational (Study 1) and longitudinal (Study 2) designs.MethodStudy 1 (N = 172) was conducted with soccer players. Study 2 was conducted with hockey players (N = 598). Athletes completed measures of passion, need satisfaction, life satisfaction, deliberate practice, and achievement goals (Study 2 only). Coaches assessed performance in Study 1. Study 2 used games played in competitive leagues over 15 years to measure performance.ResultsAnalyses using SEM provided support for the mediating role of need satisfaction (Study 1 and 2) and achievement goals (Study 2) in the relation of HP with outcomes. In contrast, deliberate practice (Study 1 and 2) meditated the relation between OP and performance.ConclusionsThis research supported the mediating role of need satisfaction in the ‘two roads to performance” (Vallerand et al., 2007, 2008).     

On being happy but fearing failure: The effects of mood on self-handicapping strategies

Does temporary mood influence people’s tendency to engage in self-handicapping behaviors? Based on past research on self-handicapping and recent work on affect and social behaviors, this experiment predicted and found that positive mood significantly increased the tendency to engage in two kinds of self-handicapping strategies. Participants (N = 94) first received contingent or non-contingent positive feedback about performance on a task of ‘cognitive abilities’, and then underwent a positive, neutral, or negative mood induction using video films. Self-handicapping was assessed in terms of their subsequent preference for (a) drinking a performance-enhancing, or performance-inhibiting herbal tea, and (b) engaging or not engaging in performance-enhancing cognitive practice. As predicted, happy mood and non-contingent feedback significantly increased self-handicapping on both measures. The implications of these results for everyday performance tasks, and for recent affect-cognition theories, are discussed.     

A cognitive mediation theory of task goals and human performance

A theory is proposed to explain the linkages between individual task goals and performance. Two cognitive constructs are postulated to mediate between task goals and performance:performance expectancy and performance valence. It is asserted that an individual's task goal has a positive influence on performance expectancy and a negative influence on performance valence. Performance expectancy is proposed to have a positive influence on performance while performance valence is proposed to have a negative influence on performance. Task ability is hypothesized to influence performance both directly and indirectly through its influence on performance expectancy. A laboratory experiment was designed to test the causal model proposed by the theory. A path analysis on the data from this experiment provides strong support for the model, with performance expectancy, performance valence, and task ability predicting 63% of the variance in performance on the laboratory task.     

Dynamic vision training transfers positively to batting practice performance among collegiate baseball batters

A growing body of evidence demonstrates visual, perceptual, and oculomotor abilities contribute to batting performance in baseball and there is interest in whether training such abilities can transfer positively to batting performance. The current study tested this question through a pre-registered, randomized, and placebo-controlled intervention, conducted with 24 collegiate baseball players at two NCAA Division 1 universities. Athletes were randomized to receive either dynamic vision training consisting of stroboscopic, anticipatory timing, and eye quickness drills, or placebo drills stylized after control procedures in previous vision therapy studies. Generalized near-transfer was tested via a digital visual-motor task battery (n = 20), while sports-specific intermediate and far transfer of training were evaluated through instrumented batting practice metrics (n = 14) and box score performance in NCAA-sanctioned games (n = 12), respectively. The effects of training group were tested on these outcome measures while controlling for covariates such as pre-training expectations and site. Participants averaged 8.50 hours of training with no significant group differences in training adherence, expectations, or baseline assessments. ANCOVA revealed no group differences in measures of visual-motor skills or NCAA game statistics. However, batting practice demonstrated significant improvements in launch angle (p = 0.002, Cohen’s d = 0.74) and hit distance (p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 0.70) for the active training cohort relative to the placebo control. This controlled and pre-registered pilot study therefore provides preliminary evidence that vision training may improve batting practice performance, creating new opportunities for the transfer of skill training and warranting further study.     

Using a virtual reality cricket simulator to explore the effects of pressure,competition anxiety on batting performance in cricket

Virtual reality (VR) has created opportunities to innovatively re-imagine the way we examine the relations between pressure, competition anxiety and performance. This study aimed to determine the efficacy of VR as a means of measuring the effects of competition anxiety when pressure manipulations are applied while participants bat in a cricket batting VR simulator. The twenty-eight male participants who took part in two experiments were divided into a high (14, mean age: 22.94, SD: 5.4) and a low skill group (14; mean age: 23.55, SD: 9.9). The aim of the first experiment was to validate the VR simulator as a tool that could capture differences in batting performance between a high and low skilled group. The results showed that high skill participants not only scored significantly higher run rates than low skill participants, but they outperformed the low skill group in all performance measures including higher incidences of correct foot placements that reflect better anticipatory responses. Having established the VR batting simulator as being a reliable tool for capturing batting dynamics, experiment 2 aimed to explore the effects of a pressure manipulation on competition anxiety and batting performance. All measures of competition anxiety were significantly greater for both groups in the high-pressure condition compared to the two low-pressure conditions (p < 0.001). The magnitude of this effect was greater in the low skill group for cognitive (0.59) and somatic (0.794) anxiety. Despite anxiety levels significantly increasing in the high-pressure condition, no significant negative changes to batting performance were found for either group, with both groups actually demonstrating performance improvements. Overall, the findings show how a cricket batting virtual reality simulator can be used as a tool to measure the effects of pressure on competition anxiety and batting performance in tasks involving dynamic skill execution.     

Passion and performance attainment in sport

ObjectivesTo test a performance-attainment model derived from the Dualistic Model of Passion [Vallerand et al. (2003). Les passions de l’âme: On obsessive and harmonious passion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 756–767] that posits that both harmonious and obsessive passions are positive predictors of deliberate practice that, in turn, is a positive predictor of performance.DesignA prospective design was used in the present study.Methods and resultsThe basic model was tested in two studies using structural equation modeling. Results from Study 1 with 184 high school basketball players indicated that both harmonious and obsessive passions were positive predictors of deliberate practice, which, in turn, was a positive predictor of objective performance. The results of Study 2, conducted with 67 synchronized swimming and water-polo athletes conceptually replicated those from Study 1. Furthermore, results differentially linked the two passions to achievement goals and subjective well-being (SWB). Specifically, harmonious passion was a positive predictor of mastery goal pursuit and SWB, whereas obsessive passion was a positive predictor of mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goal pursuit and was unrelated to SWB. Mastery goals were positive predictors of deliberate practice, which was a direct positive predictor of performance, whereas performance-avoidance goals were direct negative predictors of performance.ConclusionsIt appears that there are two paths to high-level performance attainment in sport, depending if harmonious or obsessive passion underlies sport engagement. While the path from harmonious passion is conducive to high levels of performance and living a happy life, that from obsessive passion is less reliably related to performance attainment and is unrelated to happiness.     

Differential reliance on performance outliers in athletic self‐assessment

The current studies tested the hypothesis that, despite experiencing high rates of performance failure, athletes maintain positive ability perceptions by basing assessments of their ability on peak, rarely occurring performances rather than on their more typically occurring base rate averages. Findings from two studies support this assertion. Study 1 showed that collegiate baseball players perceived their best‐ever hitting performance to better represent their true hitting ability than their worst‐ever performance, despite the latter being far more reflective of their objective batting average. Study 2 replicated this effect among college softball players, and demonstrated further that low‐performing athletes were the most severely miscalibrated in their ability perceptions. Implications for coaches, trainers, and practitioners committed to helping athletes develop are discussed.     

Correlations for weight, height and two measures of batting performance.

The hypothesis that heavier baseball players are better batters was examined in two correlational studies of major league baseball players' performance. Neither height nor weight was significantly correlated with batting average. Both variables correlated significantly and positively with the number of home runs hit by American League players in the 1997 season. After partial correlations were computed, only the correlation between weight and number of home runs hit remained significant.     

Coping-related expectancies and dispositions as prospective predictors of coping responses and symptoms

We used Rotter's (1954, 1982) social learning theory and Kirsch's (1985, 1999) response expectancy extension thereof to clarify distinctions between coping-related expectancies (beliefs about the outcomes of coping efforts) and coping dispositions (tendencies to use particular coping responses), specifically focusing on the role of generalized expectancies for negative mood regulation (NMR) as a predictor of individual differences in coping and well-being. Two studies using structural equation modeling provided support for direct and indirect associations between NMR expectancies and symptoms of depression. In Study 1 NMR expectancies predicted situational avoidance coping responses and symptoms of depression and anxiety, independent of dispositional avoidance coping tendencies. In Study 2, NMR expectancies were associated with depressive symptoms, concurrently and prospectively, independent of dispositional optimism and pessimism. Both studies indicated that NMR expectancies are more strongly associated with depressive symptoms than with symptoms of anxiety and physical illness. Results underscore the importance of distinguishing between expectancies and other personality variables related to coping.     

'Paradoxical' Mood Effects on Creative Problem-solving

Two studies examined the influence of various affective states on creative problem-solving. In Study 1, individual differences in mood were measured using an adjective checklist immediately prior to task performance. Insight problems were then employed to measure creative problem-solving. Performance was compared with that obtained for analytic problem-solving tasks that were included as contrast variables. Results showed that positive mood led to significantly poorer creative problem-solving performance. No link was found between negative mood and general arousal. Performance on the contrasting analytic problem-solving tasks was negatively related to anxiety, but not to positive or negative mood states. In Study 2, the procedure was followed with the addition of experimentally induced mood states. The results obtained in Study 1 for mood ratings were replicated. In the induced mood conditions, negative mood significantly facilitated creative problemsolving performance relative to induced neutral mood, which in turn was better than the control condition. The poorest performance was obtained in the positive mood condition. The results are discussed in the context of contrasting theories of the relationships between mood and problem-solving performance.     

Emotional Contagion and Social Judgment

This study examined the influence of another's emotional expressions and individual differences in responsiveness to afferent feedback on attention, evaluations, and memory. In a mixed design, participants (N = 71) rated pictures following exposure to a sender in a neutral mood and then in either a happy or sad mood. Attention, ratings, and recall evidenced a bias characteristic of the sender's mood: Participants spent more time viewing happy and sad pictures following exposure to the happy and sad sender, respectively; ratings by participants exposed to the happy and sad sender were more positive and negative, respectively, and this effect was greater for those more cue-responsive; participants recalled more pictures congruent with the sender's mood and those more cue-responsive exposed to the sad sender exhibited impaired memory characteristic of the effect of sadness on memory. Findings suggest that exposure to even mild emotional expressions can influence cognition and behavior and this effect is greater for those more responsive to cues generated by afferent feedback.