Psychological Influences on the Individual 6.1 Flashcards
Define ‘personality’
Unique psychological make-up
What are traits?
Your stable underlying aspects of personality
What is the trait theory?
Idea that an individual is born with innate characteristics that are stable, enduring and stay the same in different situations
Behaviour is said to be consistent so that the sports performer will behave the same in most situations
e.g. An extrovert basketball player may also have an extrovert manner at training, while playing an in team discussions & might always display this
What are the problems with the predictability of the trait theory?
- Doesn’t take into account personailty change & how personality & behaviour can change with the situation
e.g. A football could be aggressive after being fouled but then calm and apolegetic in the post match interview
- Does not consider that our personalitys can be formed by experience
What is the social learning approach?
Suggests how our personality’s develop, rather than being born with characteristics we learn from other people, especially those we hold in high esteem or significant others such as role models.
- We are more likely to learn reinforced behaviour that is seen as successful & powerful
- We are more likely to copy behaviour that is consisently shown to us
What is the order of the social learning approach?
Observe - Identify - Reinforce - Copy
What is the interactionist perspective?
A theory combining trait and social learning theories to predict behaviour in a specfic situation
It suggests that the traits we are born with are adapted and used according to the situation
What did Lewin suggest about the interactionist approach?
Suggested that the IA is explained by his formula of:
f(P x E)
Where behaviour is a function of personality and the environment
The interactionist approach attempts to help coaches by prediciting how a player will react in a specific situation.
Thinking is that since inherent, consistent traits can be adapted to the siutation, those traits will produce a typical response
What was hollanders approach to the interactionist theory?
The idea that interaction can predict behaviour
- According to Hollander it’s suggested the more the environment has an influence, the more behaviour is likely to change
Suggested that personality is made up of three features:
The core of the performer- represents the values & beliefs- stable & not likely to change (bottom)
The typical responses- use of inherent traits displayed to specific situations- usual responses
Role related behaviour- suggests that the performer might adopt a very specfic role when the situation demands it (top)
Define ‘attitude’
A value aimed at an attitude object
How do we form attitudes?
Attitudes are developed by associating with others and picking up on their opinions and values, a process called socialisation.
We tend to pick these up from significant others such as friends, parents and role models
What is the triadic model?
(CAB)
The three parts of an attitude:
Cognitive
Affective
Behavioural
What is the cognitive component of the triadic model?
Do do with what you think
- A belief, such as the belief in the ability to win
What is the affective component of the triadic model?
Relates to feelings and interpretation such as enjoyment
The affective attitude component is shown when the player enjoys taking part in training and playing
What is the behavioural component of the triadic model?
The actions and habits of the performer
e.g a player in a team sport who goes to training a couple of times a week & plays matches on the weekend displays a good behavioural aspect to their attitude
What are the two concepts used to change (bad) attitudes?
- Cognitive dissonance
- Persuasive communication
What is cognitive dissonance?
New information given to the performer to cause unease & motivate change
e.g A rugby player may be reluctant to train using a ‘dance fit’ technique until the coach points out that dancers are able to maintain an intense level of activity for an hour long session while the rugby player has to rest after a 40 minuet half! This challenges the player to think again
OR
e.g Using rewards as reinforcement may increase the turnout at training and at games if there is a prize for the player of the week
What is persuasive communication?
An effective communication to promote change
What is the key to being successful in persuasive communication?
- Ensure the messenger is of high status/significant other/credible so that the performer values their opinion
- New information given so that old beliefs are outweighed allowing a change in attitude
Define ‘arousal’
The level of activation and alertness experienced by a performer and the readiness to perform
What are the three arousal theories?
Drive Theory
Catastrophe Theory
Inverted ‘U’ Theory
What does the drive theory state?
- Theory states as arousal increases so will performance
- To be more specifc, as arousal increases, the performers habitual (most common) response is likely to be demonstrated.
Performance is said to be the function of drive multiplied by habit
Formula:
P= f(DxH)
What is a dominant response within the drive theory?
The standout response that the performer thinks is correct.
What is an experts dominant response like compared to a beginner?
- In experts the dominant response is indeed usually correct, and the performance levels remain high.
- However, with beginners the dominant response may not be developed so the beginner may choose the wrong option and the probability of poor performance increases.
