Social identity leadership in sport and exercise: Current status and future directions

The social identity approach is fast becoming a prominent framework for understanding effective leadership in sport and exercise contexts. The last five years, in particular, has seen a proliferation of research informed by the identity leadership approach, with a focus on two broad outcomes: performance and health. Using these two key outcomes as an organising framework, we provide a critical narrative review of research that has examined the presence, role, and benefits of identity leadership in sport and exercise contexts, and identify fruitful avenues for future research. Applying a broader lens, we then make five key recommendations for future identity leadership research in sport and exercise contexts. Specifically, we highlight the need for research (a) using more rigorous and varied research designs, (b) using stronger measures, (c) comparing the effects of identity leadership to the effects of other types of leadership, (d) assessing further potential mediators of relationships between identity leadership and key outcomes, and (e) exploring the possible dark side of identity leadership.     

Fighting experiences and natural killer cell activity in male laboratory mice

There is currently much interest in the potential impact of psychological factors on immune responses. An attempt was made to assess the effects of dominant/subordinate polarity in male mice on the cytotoxic activities of their natural-killer (NK) cells. On the basis of repeated agonistic encounters, categories of subordinate and dominat animals were selected. These animals were compared with manipulated controls (introduced to a novel test cage without an opponent on each occasion) and undisturbed controls (who remained in isolation without manipulation). In terms of NK activity, immunosuppression was observed in both dominant and subordinate categories when compared to undisturbed controls. There were, however, no differences between the fighting exposed subjects and the manipulated controls, suggesting that stress accounts for any changes. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Evaluating adult interaction during the Step It UP! game to increase physical activity in children

A recent intervention, the Step it UP! game (Galbraith & Normand, 2017), consists of an interdependent group contingency to increase student physical activity. In addition, previous research demonstrated that adult interaction may reinforce physical activity (Larson et al., 2014). We extended research on the Step it UP! game by comparing the effects of no game, Step it UP! game, and Step it UP! game plus adult interaction on the number of steps taken by participants in a third-grade classroom during recess. Overall, 19 of the 25 participants took more steps during the Step it UP! game plus adult interaction compared to the Step it UP! game and no-game recesses. Furthermore, 20 participants preferred the Step it UP! game plus adult interaction. Results suggest that adult interaction can enhance the effects of the Step it UP! game to increase physical activity.     

Associations of temperament and personality traits with frequency of physical activity in adulthood

Temperament and physical activity (PA) have been examined in children and adolescents, but little is known about these associations in adulthood. Personality traits, however, are known to contribute to PA in adults. This study, which examined both temperament and personality characteristics at age 42 in relation to frequency of PA at age 50 (JYLS, n = 214–261), also found associations with temperament traits. Positive associations were found between Orienting sensitivity and overall PA and between Extraversion and vigorous PA among women and between low Negative affectivity and overall and vigorous PA among men. Furthermore, Orienting sensitivity and Agreeableness were associated with vigorous PA among men. Temperament and personality characteristics also showed gender-specific associations with rambling in nature and watching sports.     

Alterations in shock-induced fighting and locomotor activity following intracerebroventricular injection of hydrocortisone in the rat

Three experiments were conducted in an attempt to clarify the facilitatory influence of hydrocortisone on shock-induced fighting in rats. Results of the first experiment indicated a biphasic, dose-dependent action of intraventricularly-administered hydrocortisone. Low (25 μg) and intermediate (50 μg) doses both facilitated fighting whilst the high (100 μg) dose exerted a potent suppressant effect. Two control tests were performed to determine whether alterations in pain reactivity or locomotor activity could have accounted for the observed changes in fighting behaviour. None of the treatments altered shock thresholds (Experiment 2) but whilst neither low nor intermediate doses affected activity measures, the high dose preferentially reduced vertical activity (Experiment 3).     

How Experts Adapt Their Gaze Behavior When Modeling a Task to Novices

Domain experts regularly teach novice students how to perform a task. This often requires them to adjust their behavior to the less knowledgeable audience and, hence, to behave in a more didactic manner. Eye movement modeling examples (EMMEs) are a contemporary educational tool for displaying experts’ (natural or didactic) problem-solving behavior as well as their eye movements to learners. While research on expert-novice communication mainly focused on experts’ changes in explicit, verbal communication behavior, it is as yet unclear whether and how exactly experts adjust their nonverbal behavior. This study first investigated whether and how experts change their eye movements and mouse clicks (that are displayed in EMMEs) when they perform a task naturally versus teach a task didactically. Programming experts and novices initially debugged short computer codes in a natural manner. We first characterized experts’ natural problem-solving behavior by contrasting it with that of novices. Then, we explored the changes in experts’ behavior when being subsequently instructed to model their task solution didactically. Experts became more similar to novices on measures associated with experts’ automatized processes (i.e., shorter fixation durations, fewer transitions between code and output per click on the run button when behaving didactically). This adaptation might make it easier for novices to follow or imitate the expert behavior. In contrast, experts became less similar to novices for measures associated with more strategic behavior (i.e., code reading linearity, clicks on run button) when behaving didactically.     

To Challenge the Morning Lark and the Night Owl: Using Smartphone Sensing Data to Investigate Day–Night Behaviour Patterns

For decades, day–night patterns in behaviour have been investigated by asking people about their sleep–wake timing, their diurnal activity patterns, and their sleep duration. We demonstrate that the increasing digitalization of lifestyle offers new possibilities for research to investigate day–night patterns and related traits with the help of behavioural data. Using smartphone sensing, we collected in vivo data from 597 participants across several weeks and extracted behavioural day–night pattern indicators. Using this data, we explored three popular research topics. First, we focused on individual differences in day–night patterns by investigating whether ‘morning larks’ and ‘night owls’ manifest in smartphone-sensed behavioural indicators. Second, we examined whether personality traits are related to day–night patterns. Finally, exploring social jetlag, we investigated whether traits and work weekly day–night behaviours influence day–night patterns on weekends. Our findings highlight that behavioural data play an essential role in understanding daily routines and their relations to personality traits. We discuss how psychological research can integrate new behavioural approaches to study personality.     

Drivers’ visual attention: A field study at intersections

Crossing a road intersection, a driver must collect visual information from various locations. The allocation of visual attention, which allows this collection, mainly relies on top-down processes. This study focuses on three top-down factors which influence the collection of visual information: the value of visual information for the ongoing task, their bandwidth, and the familiarity with the environment. These factors are studied according to the priority rules at intersections (Give way, Stop or Priority), the expected traffic density (Lower or Higher) and the number of passages (First or Second passage). Fourteen participants were installed in an instrumented vehicle equipped with an eye-tracker. They drove during 1h45 along a 80-km long route, mainly on rural roads, which included 19 intersections. Visual attention was studied by means of the head and gaze horizontal eccentricity. Effects were found for each of the three factors, in agreement with Wickens’ theoretical framework and with previous studies, despite the important variability in the data due to the experimental situation.     

The safety and conspicuity of pedestrian crossing at roundabouts: The effect of median refuge island and zebra markings

Roundabouts are one of the most used road intersections because, compared to signalized ones, they reduce conflict points between traffic flows and moderate driving speed. Great attention should also be paid to vulnerable road users at roundabouts. According to accident statistics, in fact, accessibility of pedestrians and cyclists is not always ensured.This paper has evaluated the effects on the visibility of pedestrian crossing before and after the displacement of zebra markings, moved before intersections, and the introduction of media refuge islands and “Yield here to pedestrians” vertical signs. The above effects have been assessed by before-after analysis of speed and visual behaviour of drivers approaching the crosswalk.Moreover, the analysis of the drivers’ eye movements has highlighted the most salient elements of the pedestrian crossing. The relation between the drivers’ visual behaviour and the vehicle speed have also been calculated. Results have confirmed that the intervention carried out has increased both visibility and safety of the studied pedestrian crosswalks.Zebra markings and the median refuge island have turned out to be the most glanced elements, respectively seen by 93.75% and 56.25% of the drivers, followed by the “Yield here to pedestrians” vertical sign. The mean distance of first fixation of the crosswalk increased from 21.98 m before the intervention, to 40.69 m after it. The drivers perceived the pedestrian crossings from a longer distance after the intervention, and they continued to glance at the crosswalk while approaching it, enhancing their visual attention.