Anger,aggression, and humor in newfoundland floor hockey: An evolutionary analysis

This paper examines patterns of anger, aggression, and humor during 95 floor hockey games in a small fishing village in Newfoundland. The observed behaviors meet the prediction, based on evolutionary theory, that anger and aggression will be more frequent among males at the age when mate competition is most intense. Aggression was also found to be combined with humor most frequently in interactions among players attempting to form social relationships. This last finding is consistent with the hypothesis that combining humor (smiling and laughing) with what would otherwise be interpreted as aggressive behavior is a means of establishing trusting relationships between individuals. The potential contribution of an evolutionary approach to studies of anger and aggression is discussed. ©1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Cultural differences in athlete attributions for success and failure: the sports pages revisited

Self‐serving biases in attribution, while found with relative consistency in research with Western samples, have rarely been found in Japanese samples typically recruited for research. However, research conducted with Japanese participants to date has tended to use forced‐choice and/or reactive paradigms, with school or university students, focusing mainly on academic performance or arbitrary and/or researcher‐selected tasks. This archival study explored whether self‐serving attributional biases would be shown in the real‐life attributions for sporting performance made by elite Olympic athletes from Japan and Australia. Attributions (N = 216) were extracted from the sports pages of Japanese and Australian newspapers and rated by Australian judges for locus and controllability. It was hypothesized that Australian, but not Japanese, athletes would show self‐serving biases such that they attributed wins to causes more internal and controllable than the causes to which they attributed losses. Contrary to predictions, self‐serving biases were shown to at least some extent by athletes of both nationalities. Both Australian and Japanese men attributed wins to causes more internal than those to which they attributed losses. Women, however, attributed wins and losses to causes that did not differ significantly in terms of locus. All athletes tended to attribute wins to causes that were more controllable than the causes to which losses were attributed. Results are inconsistent with a large body of research suggesting that Japanese do not show self‐serving biases in attribution, and are discussed in the light of differences in methodology, context, and participants that may have contributed to these effects.     

临床运动心理学研究:现状、问题与建议

本文对《临床运动心理学杂志》创刊以来的99篇论文进行内容分析,以揭示临床运动心理学研究的现状与问题.研究结果表明:临床运动心理学研究领域主要为运动功能障碍、心理健康、运动功能损害、运动表现发展;研究的热点问题主要为运动表现、饮食障碍、情绪障碍、成瘾、压力应对等;研究主要以认知行为理论为基础;42.4％的研究假设有待进一步验证;研究方法存在一些问题.基于上述研究结果,对我国运动心理学研究者提出以下建议:拓展研究领域;关注研究的本土化;丰富研究的理论基础;加强研究方法训练.     

Understanding concussion in socio-cultural context: A media analysis of a National Hockey League star's concussion

ObjectivesSport psychology researchers have yet to explore the socio-cultural context of concussion. The aim with this study was to explore the contribution of one socio-cultural context (i.e., sport media) toward understanding the construction of meaning(s) of a sport celebrity's concussion and the implications for sport psychology.DesignA qualitative approach was used to explore concussion as a socio-cultural issue shaped by cultural narratives (i.e., news media). The meanings and implications for how sport concussion is understood and “constructed” through a key media incident were of interest.MethodAn ethnographic content analysis (see Altheide, 1996) of the mediation of the National Hockey League's (NHL) star player Sidney Crosby's concussion from January 1, 2011 (when the concussion occurred) to June 30, 2011 (end of the NHL season) was undertaken on North American news data.ResultsThe ethnographic content analysis of 68 articles revealed that Crosby's concussion and its associated meanings were constructed within a central narrative: a culture of risk and its impact on athletes. Multiple meanings of concussion within the risk narrative emerged depending on three sub-narratives: (a) Crosby's concussion as a cautionary tale, (b) Crosby's concussion as a political platform, and (c) concussion as ambiguous.ConclusionsThe culture of risk narrative raises awareness of the physical risks, physiological effects and the politics of concussion. These cultural meanings do not acknowledge/include the psychological implications/effects of concussion. This study furthers understandings of sport concussion within a socio-cultural context.     

Living,resisting, and playing the part of athlete: Narrative tensions in elite sport

ObjectivesTo explore: (i) How elite and professional sport culture might steer individuals towards particular stories, identities, and actions; (ii) How athletes navigate or respond to these cultural pressures.DesignCross-sectional qualitative methodology.MethodNarrative interviews and focus groups with 21 elite and professional athletes followed by a narrative analysis of structure and form.ResultsAthletes demonstrated one of three processes. Individuals who live the part of athlete story their life and act in ways that conform to a culturally dominant performance narrative. Here, identity is foreclosed, relationships sacrificed in the pursuit of success, and long-term wellbeing threatened. Over time, alternative narrative types may provoke moral reflection on their story and actions. Individuals who resist the part of athlete sustain a life story and identity that deviates from the performance narrative, drawing on alternative narrative types. Their resistance is typically overt as they publicly demonstrate actions that align with their multidimensional story. Individuals who play the part of athlete modify their story and actions depending on sociocultural context. These individuals covertly maintain a multidimensional life story, but silence this story when powerful others require performance stories.ConclusionsAlthough some elite/professional athletes' life stories revolve around performance outcomes, this is not a prerequisite for excellence. Other athletes achieve excellence while sustaining a multidimensional life story and identity. To do so, they navigate a culture that expects a performance focus, through overt resistance or covertly manipulating their public stories and actions.     

Sport-Based Life Skills Programming in the Schools

SUMMARY

The philosophy of sport and physical activity being readily available for all youth has a long history. Research suggests that sport is a significant factor in the development of adolescents' self-esteem, identity and feelings of competence. Using sport to promote competence in youth has tremendous benefits and risks. The greatest risk is the belief held by many that we can make a difference by just ‘throwing the ball and letting them play.’ This paper will focus on the role that sport can play in facilitating positive youth development. We delineate the environments in which sport best contributes to positive youth development and the role schools, and the psychologists who work in these schools, can play in this process. In addition, we will provide examples of several sport-based programs designed to enhance positive development, the components that make these programs successful and issues related to the design, implementation and evaluation of these programs.     

Development and Implementation of a Sport Psychology Program in an Urban High School

SUMMARY

This article is based on a dissertation of the author that was centered on the process of developing a sport psychology program at the high school level. The program was developed to address academic, mental, social, and emotional needs of student-athletes and coaches. This sport psychology program, which was developed in the Linden Public School District, a large urban district in New Jersey, may be the first such program documented on a national level. In this dissertation, the author, who was a school psychologist in the district, utilized a particular program planning and evaluation framework, with attention to the first two phases-clarification and designto develop and implement a sport psychology program.     

Electronic Journals in Religious Studies

SUMMARY

A number of factors have kept scholarly religious studies journals from having a significant presence on the Internet. This paper examines two projects that are addressing these barriers, the American Theological Library Association Serials project and the Association of Peer-Reviewed Electronic Journals in Religion, and offers theological librarians an overview of the advantages, disadvantages, issues, and trends associated with online journal delivery as they plan for the future.     

Guidelines for Counsellors Working with People of African Ancestry in a Sport Context

The objective this article is to describe five practice guidelines for counsellors working with people of African ancestry in a sport context. The practice guidelines pertain to counsellor training, counsellor perspectives, counsellor services, counsellor ethics and counsellor research. These practice guidelines can assist counsellors working with people of African ancestry in a sport context to focus on both personal development through sport and performance enhancement in sport. This will enable athletes not just to view sport in terms of their win-lose record, but to also strive for excellence in sport by becoming better people. In becoming better people athletes can contribute to building up Africa and her people.     

Gender,Steroids, and Fairness in Sport

This article examines and defends the claim that whether or not to cheat can be a genuine moral dilemma within the ethics of team sports. That is, although there is always something morally wrong in cheating there may also be moral reasons in its favour and thus some (and perhaps an overriding) duty to cheat. This is based on the duty that players have of not letting down their teammates by failing to make sufficient effort to achieve victory. In considering the normative limits to such efforts, it is argued that players could reasonably be morally criticised for not cheating where this is of a kind commonly practised in their sport. Evidence is found in the attitudes to cheating of those connected with sport to suggest that some of it is regarded as part of the game, though in a sense that does not undermine its status as genuine cheating. In conclusion a brief consideration is given to the implications for the education, training and character of players, given a belief in there being moral reasons for cheating.