12.1 Psychological Factors That Influence an Individual in Physical Activity

Question 1

Define achievement motivation.

Answer 1

• The tendancy to approach or avoid competitive situations, summed up as the drive to succeed minus the fear of failure

Question 2

What are the two types of approach behaviour?

Answer 2

• Need to achieve (NACH)
• Need to avoid failure (NAF)

Question 3

What characteristics do personalities with the NACH have?

Answer 3

• They welcome competition
• They take risks- people who have the need to achieve will attempt a more difficult rock climbing route so there is more satisfaction from reaching the top
• They are task persistant- Player will keep trying even if they fail
• They welcome feedback & evaluation- NACH means that one of 1st priorities after a game is to look at statistics or to seek appraisal from a coach

Question 4

What are the characteristics of those who show the NAF?

Answer 4

• They will give up easily- Those with NAF personalities will not have a 2nd go if they fail first time
• They do not like feedback or evaluation- Will not look at stats sheet in case they find something unwelcome that could affect future esteem
• They take easy options- Will often play someone they can easily beat, so they can maintain self esteem

Question 5

How would a coach help a performer develop the need to achieve or approach behaviour?

Answer 5

• Reinforcement- Coach shld offer praise & rewards to players who do well/achieve their goals so players keep desire to do well in future, promoting task persistence
• Attribute success internally- Coach shld tell player that any success achieved was down to something which player had responsibility e.g. amount of effort put into game
• Improving confidence
• Allowing success- To encourage the belief in success & improve confidence coach could set tasks & training drills that can be accomplished w little effort in the early development of the player

Question 6

What is the achievement goal theory?

Answer 6

• Suggests that motivation & task persistence depend on the type of goals set by the performer & how they measure success
• Goals can be set to include an outcome which is based on beating others
• It doesnt matter how the result was achieved as long as the goal is reached
• If the performer succeeds then pride & satisfaction are maintained
• Problem here is that if a performer fails to get the result, then confidence can be lowered
• A task related goal however is more concerned w the process of success, which is measured against the performers own standards rather than against others so success can be achieved

Question 7

Define confidence?

Answer 7

• A belief in the ability to master a task

Question 8

What are the two types of confidence?

Answer 8

• Trait confidence
• State confidence

Question 9

What is trait confidence?

Answer 9

• A consistent level of confidence shown in most situations when the player is happy to take part & anxiety is low.
• Trait sports confidence is concerned with how an athlete rates their ability to perform across a wide range of sports.
  (often innate)

Question 10

What is state confidence?

Answer 10

• A belief in the ability to master a specific sporting moment

This type of confidence may be temporary & can vary depending on the interaction of the influence of the experience & personality.

Question 11

What is competitive orientation?

Answer 11

• The degree to which a performer is drawn to challenging situations

Question 12

Explain Vealeys model of sports confidence.

Answer 12

• Looks at the influence of trait confidence, state confidence, the situation & the competitive orientation of the performer
• Suggested that confidence gained in one area of sport could be used to improve confidence in a different sporting activity
• Used idea of trait confidence where the performer would rate their chances of doing well in a range of sports based on past success & the idea of state confidence where a performer would rate their chances of doing well in one specific situation
• The objective sporting situation is the combination of the type of the type of skill being performed in the situation
• If it is a skill that has been used successfully in the past, then both trait & state confidence wld be high

Question 13

Define self-efficacy

Answer 13

• A belief in the ability to master a specific sporting situation

Question 14

What are the 4 factors that Bandura said to affect self-efficacy?

Answer 14

• Performance Accomplishments- What you have achieved already
• Vicarious Experience- Seeing others do the task
• Verbal Persuasion- Encouragement from others
• Emotional Arousal- A perception of the effects of anxiety on performance

Question 15

Coaches & players can use Banduras 4 influences on self efficacy to help improve & promote player confidence - what are some of the things the coach or players could do?

Answer 15

Control Arousal
- W relaxation or stress management techniques such as visualisation

Give an accurate demonstration
- This demonstration could be done by a role model who demonstrates accurately & is equal in ability to the performer

Point out past successful performances
- A coach of a team in a major tournament might point out that they have performed well in other similar tournaments & there is no reason why they shld not do well again

Give out support & encouragement

Setting attainable goals- Once these goals have been reached, a further challenging goal can be set

Attribute any success achieved to the athlete- suggesting it is the athletes ability or effort that produced a good result

Question 16

How could the homefield advantage increase confidence for a home team?

Answer 16

• Home team audience support increases players motivation & confidence
• Not having to travel
• Familiarity of the home environment can mean more games are won at home than away
• Team may play in a more ‘fluent’ style since they feel more at ease & confident
• Social facilitation could occur
• e.g. in 2012 olympics when team GB won their highest number of medals for years

Question 17

How can the homefield advantage have a negative impact on the away team?

Answer 17

• Can cause increased anxiety w hostile charity
• Can lead to a less effective performance
• The away team sometimes commit more fouls due to anxiety & could suffer from the effects of social inhibition

Question 18

How can the home crowd have a negative effect on the home team?

Answer 18

• Home crowd can cause home team to ‘choke’ in big games with the increased pressure of game causing the catastrophe effect when players suffer a dramatic reduction in performance
• The more important the game the less likely the home team is to win it
• The effect of the homefield advantage is increased in stadiums where the crowd are close to the pitch.
• In large stadiums the crowd may be far away & the help of the home support is ineffective

Question 19

What is a leader?

Answer 19

• Someone who has an influence in helping others to achieve their goals

Question 20

What are the two types of leader?

Answer 20

Perscribed leader- Appointed from outside the group
Emergent leader- Appointed from within the group

Question 21

What are the qualities an effective leader needs to have?

Answer 21

• Charisma
• Communication- leader has to get message across
• Empathy
• Interpersonal skills- leader needs to interact w other members of team & outside the group
• Experience- Leader needs to be able to listen to others
• Organisational skills- A good leader would plan & prepare for training- linking it to the demands of the team

Question 22

What are the 3 types of leadership?

Answer 22

• The autocratic & task orientated style
• The democratic & person-orientated style
• The ‘laissez- faire’ style

Question 23

What is the autocratic & task orientated style of leadership?

Answer 23

• The leader makes all the decisions & dictates instructions to the group
• Concern of leader is to get results & reach targets - task orientated style
• However coach will need to stay w the group & maintain contact throughout the session, since the group tends to switch off when this style is used if the coach is not there

Question 24

What is the democratic & person-orientated style of leadership?

Answer 24

• Coach adopts a more sympathetic approach to leadership
• Seeks the opinion of group before making decisions
• Coach may use quality of empathy to listen to the senior players after watching some video footage of the next opposition & make a plan involving those players in the expectation of a win

Question 25

What is the laissez-faire style of leadership?

Answer 25

• Leader does very little & leaves the group to it
• There is danger however that less motivated players will stop working if they are left alone

(also probably not great for beginners)

Question 26

What is Fielder’s contingency model of leadership?

Answer 26

• Took into account that the situation can influence leadership styles
• Suggested that the autocratic or task orientated style of leadership is best used in two opposite situations:
• When everything is good (a favourable situation) & when everything is bad (least favourable situation)
• In the middle ground when situation is between good & bad- he called it a moderately favourable situation
• How favourable the situation is, good or bad, depends on the task, the leader-group relationship and the leaders position of authority

Question 27

What did Fielder describe occurs in a most favourabe situation?

Answer 27

• The leader has respect
• There is good support within the group
• The group is of high ability
• There are high levels of motivation
• Task is clear to the team

Question 28

What did Fielder describe occurs in a least favourable situation?

Answer 28

• May be hostility between the group members
• There is little respect for the leader
• The group has low ability
• Motivation is low
• Group members do not support each other

Question 29

What did Fielder describe occurs in a moderately favourable situation?

Answer 29

• There is a need or preference for consultation within the group
• Motivation is moderate
• There is limited support
• Group has reasonable ability

Question 30

What was Chelladuri’s multi-dimensional model of leadership?

Answer 30

• Chelladuri looked at other factors that influence choice of leadership style, not just situation.
• He assessed idea that the leader must use an interactive approach to balance aspects of the situation, the leader & the group
• His suggestion was that the more the leader actually used a style that matched the requirements of the situation & the needs of the group, then the more satisfactio wld be gained from the performance
• Importance of situation wld include type of task being performed
• An individual sport such as athletics could result in a different approach to leadership than a team game
• Features of group also affect leadership style- with a group of women, the use of empathy & consultation may be best choice while men may prefer a more authoratarian approach to their training
• With an able group coach could allow some flexibility & allow group to use their experinece to decide what they want to work on- beginners might need to be told what to do

Question 31

What happens in Chelladuri’s model once the three influences of leader behaviour have been assessed?

Answer 31

The leader can then choose how to behave with the group:
- The required behaviour of the leader is a result of an assessment of the situation & may involve being autocratic during a quick break during play when giving out instructions.
- The actual behaviour of the leader may be chosen to match both the situation & group demands
- The preferred behaviour is the result of what the group want or prefer. A group of novice players may want instruction on new tactics & strategies