Measuring psychological need states in sport: Theoretical considerations and a new measure

ObjectivesResearch guided by Self-determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2017) has repeatedly demonstrated the importance of focusing on both the bright (satisfaction) and dark (frustration) sides of the three basic psychological needs. Recently, researchers have also argued for the utility of assessing a third need state, that of “unfulfillment”. In this paper, we outline an effort to develop and provide initial validity evidence for scores of a new multidimensional and sport-specific measure, the Psychological Need States in Sport-Scale (PNSS-S), to assess the satisfaction, frustration, and unfulfillment of all three needs.MethodIn Study 1, we developed 46 candidate items, and tested evidence for the factorial structure of the responses to the newly developed items, internal consistency and discriminant validity of the subscale scores. Following refinement, the replication of the favored model was tested using an independent sample of athletes in Study 2. Evidence for the nomological network of the subscales of the new measure was also demonstrated in Study 2.ResultsFactor models incorporating all three need states showed poor fit with the data. However, following post-hoc modifications, a six-factor model assessing the need states of satisfaction and frustration, separately for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, was found to have good fit to the data. After refinement, the 29-item six-factor model was found to demonstrate good fit, good standardized factor loadings, factor correlations in the expected directions, and acceptable estimates of internal consistency in Study 2. Tests of nomological networks showed that the six need states were significantly predicted by contextual autonomy, competence, and relatedness support/thwarts as expected. Autonomy and competence need satisfaction were significantly associated with engagement; and competence and relatedness need satisfaction were significantly associated with positive affect. In addition, autonomy and competence need frustration were significantly associated with exhaustion and all three need frustration states significantly predicted negative affect.ConclusionsA tripartite conceptualization of the need states was not empirically supported. Nevertheless, the PNSS-S makes a unique contribution to the sport literature, as it represents the first sport-specific measure of six distinct, yet, correlated states of the satisfaction and frustration of autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs.     

On the difference between internal and external reactions to legitimate and illegitimate frustrations: A demonstration

Although it is commonly assumed that the nature of any given frustration (defined as an unexpected barrier to goal attainment) affects the strength of the resulting instigation to aggression, the present paper argues that the type of frustration, ie, whether it is legitimate or illegitimate, can also influence the strength of an overt attack upon an available target independently of instigation intensity. Two groups of university men were unexpectedly kept from winning a money prize for working on a motor task, and one group was induced to attribute this failure to their partner's misbehavior (illegitimate frustration) while the other men were told the failure was due to the apparatus (legitimate frustration). In comparison to a nonthwarted control group, both frustrated conditions displayed the same level of internal arousal. However, when all subjects had an opportunity to “supervise” a second partner on an unrelated task soon afterwards, only those who had been illegitimately thwarted earlier were now more openly punitive toward this “innocent” individual than the control group. Possible reasons for these results are discussed, but it is emphasized that a distinction must be drawn between the internal and external reactions to a frustration.     

Political Intolerance,Right and Left

Research recently published in Political Psychology suggested that political intolerance is more strongly predicted by political conservatism than liberalism. Our findings challenge that conclusion. Participants provided intolerance judgments of several targets and the political objective of these targets (left‐wing vs. right‐wing) was varied between subjects. Across seven judgments, conservatism predicted intolerance of left‐wing targets, while liberalism predicted intolerance of right‐wing targets. These relationships were fully mediated by perceived threat from targets. Moreover, participants were biased against directly opposing political targets: conservatives were more intolerant of a left‐wing target than the opposing right‐wing target (e.g., pro‐gay vs. anti‐gay rights activists), while liberals were more intolerant of a right‐wing target than the opposing left‐wing target. These findings are discussed within the context of the existing political intolerance and motivated reasoning literatures.     

Cognitive flexibility mediates the relation between intolerance of uncertainty and safety signal responding in those with panic disorder

There is a growing literature associating anxiety disorders with an inability to inhibit defensive responding during safety conditions of threatening tasks. However, investigations on the relation between panic disorder (PD) and defensive responding to safety have yielded mixed results. A recent study from our laboratory revealed that intolerance of uncertainty (IU) moderates this association, such that only individuals with PD and a high IU exhibit heightened startle potentiation during safety. The mechanism underlying this relationship is unknown. Given that safety conditions typically alternate with periods of threat, cognitive flexibility (i.e., the ability to adjust one's habitual responding to a situation, given the input of new information) may be involved in the ongoing reappraisal of danger and adjustment of defensive responding. Thus, the present study sought to investigate whether deficits in cognitive flexibility mediate the association between IU and defensive responding to safety among a sample of 71 adults diagnosed with PD. As hypothesised, cognitive flexibility mediated the relationship between IU and heightened startle potentiation during safety conditions. This finding suggests that within this subgroup, a failure to inhibit defensive responding during safety conditions may be due to deficits in cognitive flexibility.     

On the origin of worries about modern health hazards: Experimental evidence for a conjoint influence of media reports and personality traits

Objective: Worries about health threatening effects of potential health hazards of modern life (e.g. electric devices and pollution) represent a growing phenomenon in Western countries. Yet, little is known about the causes of this growing special case of affective risk perceptions termed Modern Health Worries (MHW). The purpose of this study is to examine a possible role of biased media reports in the formation of MHW.

Design: In two experiments, we investigated whether typical television reports affect MHW. In Study 1, 130 participants were randomly assigned to a film on idiopathic environmental intolerance (IEI) or a control film about cystic fibrosis. In Study 2, 82 participants were randomly assigned to either a film on the dangers of electromagnetic fields or a control condition.

Main outcome measures: Increases in MHW after sensational media reports.

Results: In Study 1, only participants high on the personality trait of absorption revealed increased MHW after watching the IEI film. In Study 2, specifically worries about radiation were found to be elevated after watching the film on the dangers of electromagnetic fields compared to the control film.

Conclusion: The results of both studies reveal a significant and specific influence of sensational short mass media reports on MHW. The influence of potential moderators such as absorption remains to be clarified.     

An Investigation of Abusive Supervision,Vicarious Abusive Supervision,and Their Joint Impacts

ABSTRACT

Recent work has begun to look at the impact of abusive supervision, a dysfunctional workplace behavior, on employee outcomes. This study extends this line of research by examining vicarious abusive supervision (abuse not directly experienced, but rumors about it or hearing about it, that is “experienced vicariously”). In particular, this research effort investigates whether vicarious abuse has effects above and beyond those accounted for by personally experienced abusive supervision on the outcomes of job frustration, coworker abuse, and perceived organizational support. Our sample is composed of 233 workers from a large variety of organizations. Results reveal that both personally experienced and vicarious abuse have negative impacts and these effects are heightened when both forms of abusive supervision are present. Practical and theoretical implications, as well as directions for future research, are offered.     

THE VALUE OF UNCERTAINTY

The author discusses some of the characteristics of Roy Schafer's contributions to psychoanalysis that he finds most valuable, such as his openness to uncertainty, his anti‐reductive view of analytic constructions, his unique formulation of the analyst's role, and his close attention to how the patient engenders particular emotional reactions in the analyst. The author also presents a clinical vignette illustrating the value of the analyst's tolerance of uncertainty in the face of the patient's push for interpretations, explanations, and reassurance.     

Distress and Avoidance in Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Exploring the Relationships with Intolerance of Uncertainty and Worry

Theory and research suggest that treatments targeting experiential avoidance may enhance outcomes for patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The present study examined the role of experiential avoidance and distress about emotions in a treatment-seeking sample with a principal diagnosis of GAD compared with demographically matched nonanxious controls and sought to explore their shared relationship with two putative psychopathological processes in GAD: intolerance of uncertainty and worry. Patients with GAD reported significantly higher levels of experiential avoidance and distress about emotions compared with nonclinical controls while controlling for depressive symptoms, and measures of these constructs significantly predicted GAD status. Additionally, experiential avoidance and distress about anxious, positive, and angry emotions shared unique variance with intolerance of uncertainty when negative affect was partialed out, whereas only experiential avoidance and distress about anxious emotions shared unique variance with worry. Discussion focuses on implications for treatment as well as future directions for research.     

How Do Elements of a Reduced Capacity to Withstand Uncertainty Relate to the Severity of Health Anxiety?

Intolerance of uncertainty (IU)—a multidimensional cognitive vulnerability factor—is associated with a variety of anxiety disorders and health anxiety (HA). To date, few studies have assessed whether IU dimensions (prospective and inhibitory IU) are differentially associated with HA and whether their contributions are independent of anxiety sensitivity (AS). This study addressed these issues using independent community (n = 155; 81% women) and undergraduate (n = 560; 86% women) samples. Results indicated that prospective IU, but not inhibitory IU, had significant positive associations with HA in community dwellers and undergraduate students. AS somatic and cognitive concerns were also significant predictors among both samples. In addition, severity of IU dimensions among individuals reporting elevated HA were compared against individuals diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and obsessive–compulsive disorder. Results indicated minimal differences between those with elevated HA and each of the anxiety disorder diagnoses. Findings lend support to the unique transdiagnostic nature of IU and support commonalities between HA and anxiety disorders.     

Beyond Negative Affectivity: A Hierarchical Model of Global and Transdiagnostic Vulnerabilities for Emotional Disorders

Background: Negative affectivity (NA) has been linked to anxiety and depression (DEP). Identifying the common factors between anxiety and DEP is important when explaining their overlap and comorbidity. However, general factors such as NA tend to have differential relationships with different disorders, suggesting the need to identify mediators in order to explicate these relationships. Methods: The current study tests a theoretically and empirically derived hierarchical model of emotional disorders including both a general factor (NA) and transdiagnostic risk factors [anxiety sensitivity (AS) and intolerance of uncertainty (IoU)] using structural equation modeling. AS was tested as a mid-level factor between NA and panic disorder/agoraphobia, while IoU was tested as a mid-level factor between NA and social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and DEP. Data from 642 clinical outpatients with a heterogeneous presentation of emotional disorders were available for analysis. Results: The hierarchical model fits the data adequately. Moreover, while a simplified model removing AS and IoU fits the data well, it resulted in a significant loss of information for all latent disorder constructs. Limitations: Data were unavailable to estimate post-traumatic stress disorder or specific phobias. Future work will need to extend to other emotional disorders. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the importance of both general factors that link disorders together and semi-specific transdiagnostic factors partially explaining their heterogeneity. Including these mid-level factors in hierarchical models of psychopathology can help account for additional variance and help to clarify the relationship between disorder constructs and NA.