A review and empirical comparison of motivation scoring methods: An application to self-determination theory

Motivation and Emotion - Self-determination Theory differentiates various types of motivation, each of which have different consequences for well-being and behavior. Despite broad agreement...     

Scientology and its ‘clear’ business

The Church of Scientology (COS) has been the center of controversy and moral panics around the world. Many of its critics, including government and professional bodies suggest that it is a “destructive cult” with values in conflict with society. Against such views, it is argued that the CoS both reflects and relies on conventional values. The CoS is analyzed as a successful commercial enterprise which, seeking to achieve its goals, occasionally adopts illicit means. The CoS's business is also deviant in that it denies its commercial structure. Ironically, it is this very denial, this very deviance that helps explain its survival and success.     

Dimensions of Coaching Behavior, Need Satisfaction, and the Psychological and Physical Welfare of Young Athletes

Grounded in self-determination theory (E. L. Deci & R. M. Ryan, 2000), the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of dimensions of coaching behavior to intrinsic need satisfaction and indices of psychological and physical well-being among male adolescent athletes. Participants were 265 British soccer and cricket players (M _age = 16.44). Structural equation modeling analysis, using maximum likelihood robust method, showed athletes' perceptions of autonomy support, mastery focus, and social support from the coach to predict their satisfaction of the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, respectively. The satisfaction of the need for competence emerged as the most important predictor of psychological and physical well-being. The findings suggest that particular aspects of the social environment may be salient for fostering particular psychological needs. The results also underline the importance of perceived competence for the psychological and physical welfare of adolescents in team sports.     

It's a Museum,But Not as We Know It: Issues for Local Residents Accessing the Museum of Old and New Art

The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), in Australia's island state of Tasmania, bears all the hallmarks of the new museology and a flagship museum. Located in a largely working class area, there are expectations of visitors from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, particularly local residents. However most visitors are tourists, middle-class, and highly educated. In this article, the authors ask, “What are the issues affecting accessibility to MONA for local residents?” In asking this, they aim to better understand local engagement with MONA and shed light on potential socio-cultural transformation. Using a survey, interviews, and focus groups with local residents, the authors found that accessibility at MONA is defined along familiar socioeconomic lines, though there are indications of change that warrant further investigation. The expense of food and beverage, concern about children's behavior, and the explicit nature of some art all impact on accessibility, particularly for those with less cultural capital.     

Assumptions in research in sport and exercise psychology

ObjectivesThe aim of this article is to outline how certain key assumptions affect the quality and interpretation of research in quantitative sport and exercise psychology.MethodsA review of three common assumptions made in the sport and exercise psychology literature was conducted. The review focused on three assumptions relating to research validity and the treatment and interpretation of observations. A central theme to this discussion is the assumption that research observations reflect true effects in a population.ResultsAssumptions often made in sport and exercise psychology research were identified in three key areas: (1) validity, (2) inferences of causality, and (3) effect size and the “practical significance” of research findings. Findings indicated that many studies made assumptions about the validity of the self-report psychological measures adopted and few provided a comprehensive evaluation of the validity of these measures. Researchers adopting correlational designs in sport and exercise psychology often infer causality despite such conclusions being based on theory or speculation rather than empirical evidence. Research reports still do not include effect size statistics as standard and confine the discussion of findings to statistical significance alone rather than commenting on “practical significance”.ConclusionResearch quality can only be evaluated with due consideration of the common assumptions that limits empirical investigation in sport and exercise psychology. We offer some practical advice for researchers, reviewers, and journal editors to minimise the impact of these assumptions and enhance the quality of research findings in sport and exercise psychology.     

Mechanisms underlying the self-talk–performance relationship: The effects of motivational self-talk on self-confidence and anxiety

ObjectivesThe present study examined the effects of motivational self-talk on self-confidence, anxiety, and task performance in young athletes.MethodsParticipants were 72 tennis players. The experiment was conducted in five sessions: baseline assessment, three training sessions, and final assessment. After the baseline assessment participants were divided and assigned randomly into experimental and control groups. The two groups followed the same training program with the experimental group practicing the use of self-talk. In the last session, the final assessment took place. A forehand drive test was used to evaluate task performance, and the Competitive Anxiety Inventory-2R was used to assess self-confidence and anxiety.ResultsA two-way mixed model MANOVA revealed that task performance improved for the experimental group (p < .01) and remained stable for the control group; self-confidence increased (p < .01) and cognitive anxiety decreased (p < .05) for the experimental group, whereas no changes were observed for the control group. Correlation analysis revealed that changes in task performance were moderately related to changes in self-confidence (p < .05).ConclusionsThe results of the study showed that self-talk can enhance self-confidence and reduce cognitive anxiety. Furthermore, it is suggested that increases in self-confidence can be regarded as a viable function explaining the facilitating effects of self-talk on performance.     

The Effects of Social Identity and Perceived Autonomy Support on Health Behaviour Within the Theory of Planned Behaviour

The present study employed constructs from self-determination theory, social-identity theory, and the theory of planned behaviour to examine the combined effects that social identity and perceived autonomy support exerted on attitudes, intentions and health behaviour. A prospective design was employed measuring constructs from the theory of planned behaviour, group norms, group identification, and perceived autonomy support at baseline and physical activity behaviour 5 weeks later. Self-report questionnaires were administered to 231 pupils (male = 113, female = 118, M = 14.21 years, SD = .90). Hierarchical regression analysis demonstrated that group norms predicted participation in physical activities and attitudes, but only for participants who identified strongly with their group. Perceived autonomy support predicted attitudes, intentions and behaviour. The effects of perceived autonomy support and social-identity constructs were independent. It was concluded that both social identity and perceived autonomy support should be included in the theory of planned behaviour.     

Dispositional resistance to change: measurement equivalence and the link to personal values across 17 nations

The concept of dispositional resistance to change has been introduced in a series of exploratory and confirmatory analyses through which the validity of the Resistance to Change (RTC) Scale has been established (S. Oreg, 2003). However, the vast majority of participants with whom the scale was validated were from the United States. The purpose of the present work was to examine the meaningfulness of the construct and the validity of the scale across nations. Measurement equivalence analyses of data from 17 countries, representing 13 languages and 4 continents, confirmed the cross-national validity of the scale. Equivalent patterns of relationships between personal values and RTC across samples extend the nomological net of the construct and provide further evidence that dispositional resistance to change holds equivalent meanings across nations.     

A study of syntactic processing in aphasia II: neurological aspects

This paper presents the results of a study of the effects of left hemisphere strokes on syntactically-based comprehension in aphasic patients. We studied 42 patients with aphasia secondary to left hemisphere strokes and 25 control subjects for the ability to assign and interpret three syntactic structures (passives, object extracted relative clauses, and reflexive pronouns) in enactment, sentence-picture matching and grammaticality judgment tasks. We measured accuracy, RT and self-paced listening times in SPM and GJ. We obtained magnetic resonance (MR) and 5-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET) data on 31 patients and 12 controls. The percent of selected regions of interest (ROIs) that was lesioned on MR and the mean normalized PET counts per voxel in ROIs were calculated. In regression analyses, lesion measures in both perisylvian and non-perisylvian ROIs predicted performance. Patients who performed at similar levels behaviorally had lesions of very different sizes, and patients with equivalent lesion sizes varied greatly in their level of performance. The data are consistent with a model in which the neural tissue that is responsible for the operations underlying sentence comprehension and syntactic processing is localized in different neural regions in different individuals.