Not your average sport parents: How sport scholars make decisions about their own children’s sport involvement

Every year, millions of parents are faced with decisions about their children’s sport involvement that may have profound impacts on psychosocial and developmental outcomes. Little is known about how parents make these decisions and what factors may be influencing them, although parents’ sport background and knowledge are likely important. Parents who are also active sport scholars with knowledge of the academic literature and policies pertaining to youth sport are well positioned to clarify and interpret their decision-making processes and influences related to their children’s sport involvement. In this study, we aimed to answer the question, “How do parents with academic expertise in sport make decisions about their children’s sport involvement?” We interviewed 11 faculty-researchers from within the United States and Canada, all of whom held doctorates in sport-related disciplines and had one or more children between the ages of 8–15 years involved in organized, competitive sport. Findings were analyzed through a process of content analysis, and results are represented by four main themes: (a) influencing factors, (b) encouraging sampling, (c) evaluating and modifying the sport environment, and (d) supporting autonomy. Our findings revealed far more complexity in the types of decisions to be made and the factors influencing them than is currently suggested by youth sport literature and policy documents. As well, participants demonstrated nuanced interpretations of commonly endorsed sport parenting practices and illuminated structural issues with youth sport policies, including a focus on individual athletes without consideration of siblings and the family unit as a whole.     

Adding experiential layers to the transnational-athlete concept: A narrative review of real-world heterogeneous mobility experiences

ObjectiveWith rising mobility and greater recognition of the diversity of origins, cultures, and outlooks, there has been increasing interest in transnational perspectives in sport psychology scholarship and practice. Based on personal and professional experiences, however, we are concerned that there are diverse transnational-athlete perspectives that have not yet been explored in the literature which are also often restricted by traditional nation-based sporting policies, organisations, and events. As cultural awareness and understanding may enhance consultancy effectiveness and enable the construction of heretofore unrealised identities for athletes, in this paper we seek to expand upon the heterogeneity of athlete experiences relating to mobility by exploring real-world cases of transnational athletes and how their experiences fit into current sporting structures.DesignNarrative review and commentary.ResultsThree identity orientations that showcase transnational diversity are identified: postnational, intranational, and non-national. Key characteristics and challenges relating to these for athletes, coaches, and practitioners are exemplified and discussed.ConclusionTo enhance rapport and inclusivity, researchers and practitioners should not only consider experiences, perceptions, and constructed identities of postnational, intranational, and non-national athletes, but also seek to understand how these interact with or are influenced by environmental and structural factors.     

Parenting in youth tennis: Understanding and enhancing children's experiences

ObjectiveThe overall purpose of this study was to develop a grounded theory of optimal parental involvement in youth tennis.DesignA Straussian grounded theory methodology (Corbin and Strauss, 2008, Strauss and Corbin, 1998) was used. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with 90 youth tennis players, ex-youth players, parents, and coaches from the United Kingdom. Data were analyzed through a process of open and axial coding, and theoretical integration. Through this process data were broken down into smaller units (concepts), relationships between concepts were identified, and a substantive grounded theory was developed.ResultsThe grounded theory of optimal parental involvement in tennis was built around the core category of ‘understanding and enhancing your child's tennis journey.’ The core category was underpinned by three categories: (a) Share and communicate goals, which referred to the need for parents and children to have the same aims for the child's tennis involvement; (b) develop an understanding emotional climate, which accounted for the need for parents to continually seek to foster an environment in which children perceived parents understand their experience, and; (c) engage in enhancing parenting practices at competitions, which denoted the specific behaviors parents should display in relation to competitive tennis.ConclusionThe theory predicts that consistency between goals, emotional climate, and parenting practices will optimize parenting in youth tennis.     

Working with religious and spiritual athletes: Ethical considerations for sport psychologists

With a growing number of sport performers revealing their religious and spiritual beliefs, it is becoming increasingly important for sport psychologists to recognize and appreciate the values (and value systems) to which such beliefs are attached. Using the RRICC model (Plante, 2007) as a framework for discussion, and through the lens of cultural praxis, the purpose of this article is to highlight ethical issues for sport psychologists when working with religious and spiritual athletes. The RRICC model addresses the ethical principles of respect, responsibility, integrity, competence, and concern. It is hoped that a discussion of these guidelines will help sport psychologists better navigate the often challenging landscape of working with athletes whose everyday lives and identities are grounded in religious and spiritual association.     

目标取向、道德认同、道德推脱与大学生运动员的反社会行为的关系

研究从道德失调的观点出发探讨了目标取向、道德认同、道德推脱与大学生运动员在比赛中的反社会行为的关系.198名大学生运动员参加了本研究并完成了任务取向和自我取向问卷、道德推脱问卷、道德认同问卷和运动中的反社会行为问卷.分析发现,任务取向减少了大学生运动员的反社会行为,但是自我取向增加了他们的反社会行为;道德推脱在自我取向与反社会行为的关系中发挥着中介作用,且这一中介作用受到道德认同的调节,较低的道德认同增加了自我取向的运动员的道德推脱,并由此提高其反社会行为倾向.     

Predicting performance and performance satisfaction: mindfulness and beliefs about the ability to deal with social barriers in sport

This research investigates the role of beliefs about the ability to deal with specific social barriers and its relationships to mindfulness, football performance, and satisfaction with one's own and team performance. Study 1 aimed at eliciting these social barriers. Study 2 tested (i) whether self-efficacy referring to social barriers would predict performance over and above task-related self-efficacy and collective efficacy and (ii) the mediating role of self-efficacy to overcome social barriers in the relationship between mindfulness and performance. Participants were football (soccer) players aged 16–21 years (Study 1: N = 30; Study 2: N = 101, longitudinal sample: n = 88). Study 1 resulted in eliciting 82 social barriers referring to team, peer leadership, and coaches. Study 2 showed that task-related self-efficacy and collective efficacy explained performance satisfaction at seven-month follow-up, whereas self-efficacy referring to social barriers explained shooting performance at seven-month follow-up. Indirect associations between mindfulness and performance were found with three types of self-efficacy referring to social barriers, operating as parallel mediators. Results provide evidence for the role of beliefs about the ability to cope with social barriers and show a complex interplay between different types of self-efficacy and collective efficacy in predicting team sport performance.     

How evaluation and need for structure affect motivation and creativity

Research has shown that evaluation can have negative effects when it is perceived as controlling rather than informational. We hypothesized that Personal Need for Structure (PNS) would moderate the effects of (perceptions of) evaluative situations. Specifically, we expected that informational evaluative situations would be associated with higher motivation and higher creative performance than controlling evaluative situations, but only when PNS is low. In a field study (N = 53) and an experiment (N = 72), we showed consistently across samples, methods, and outcomes that the positive effects ofinformational evaluation only existed for individuals who were low in PNS. These findings support the reasoning that high PNS individuals tend to welcome any type of feedback because of its disambiguating potential.     

Sport Psychology Foundations,Organizations, and Related Resources

SUMMARY

The purpose of this article is to introduce psychologists and counselors who work in schools to the field of applied sport psychology. We begin with a brief history of how applied sport psychology developed in North America and other parts of the world. Landmark events such as the development of conferences, professional organizations and scholarly publications are described. This is followed by a discussion of the breadth of services that are typically provided by sport psychologists. The third section examines some of the current issues related to the training of sport psychologists. The final section introduces the reader to organizations, journals, texts, and on-line resources so they may learn more about the theory, research, and practice of Sport psychology.     

A consideration of the normative status of skill in the purposive sports

It is popularly believed within sport's practice communities that a contest fails if the competitor who performs most skilfully in it does not win. The belief is rarely acknowledged explicitly, and therefore deserves to be considered ideological in a sense. In this paper I challenge that belief. For conceptual reasons, I confine the discussion to the purposive sports, e.g. football and tennis.

The concept of skill is approached by articulation of a set of platitudes about skill in the purposive sports. The first is the conceptual wedge between skill and success. The second is the distinction between skill and other performance-relevant qualities such as courage, strength and luck. The third is the fact that skill deficits can be compensated by sufficient amounts of the other performance relevant qualities. The fourth is the dispositional and dynamic character of skill. The relation between skill and final objectives in the purposive sports means that (i) qualities such as nerve and courage can trump the more skilful performance; and (ii) poor execution of a narrow range of skills can result in the competitive failure of the more skilful performance.

There is no viable ideal of sport that would ground regret about the realisation of the immediately preceding possibilities. The inclination towards such regret might be partly motivated by the wish to take a gratifying view of ourselves. An end to this response, and a more inclusive, less hierarchical conception of sport skills, is worth recommending.