Exercise and Sports Psychology

Personality, Aggression, Motivation

I. What is Exercise/Sport Psychology?

A. Effect of psychological factors on behavior in exercise and sport
1. Personality
2. Motivation
3. Arousal
B. Effect of exercise or sport on the psychology of the participant
1. Psychological health
2. Self-confidence, self-esteem
3. Personality

II. History of Ex/Sports Psychology

A. Early History
1. 1895 Rev. William Augustus Stearn (President, Amherst College) on the
psychological effects of exercise:

If a moderate amount of physical exercise can be secured to every student daily, I have
a deep convictionthat animation and cheerfulness, and a higher order of efficient
study and intellectual life would be secured

2. ~1900 G.W. Fitz, studies on reaction time

3. ~1900 N Triplett, Cyclists compared in clock trials, paced trials, competition
trials found that competition liberate(d) latent energy in the cyclists not
ordinarily available

4. ~1900 E.W. Scripture participation in sports fosters desirable character

5. 1903 American J. of Psychology, G.T.W. Patrick: being a spectator at a
sporting event (football, e.g.) allowed fans to release pent-up emotions

B. Coleman Roberts Griffith father of America sport psychology

1. Athletic Research Laboratory, Illinois Univ.
Psychomotor skills
Learning
Personality
2. Wrote Psychology of Coaching (1926) and Psychology and Athletics (1928)
3. 1938 consultant for Chicago Cubs (baseball) hired by Philip Wrigley

C. Modern History of Ex/Sports Psychology

1. Not much work done between ~1940 and ~1960, although the concept of
character building through sport remained
2. 1960s revival, incl. formation of NA Society for Psychology of Sport and
Physical Activity (NASPSPA), J. Sports Psych, J. Sport Behavior
3. 1960s through present fields of Exercise and Sport Psychology expanding

III. Personality
A. Definition, Questions
1. Personality defined: an individuals characteristic patterns of behavior that
contribute to his or her uniqueness (Baron, Byrne, Kantowitz, 1980)
2. Can personality affect exercise/sport selection, investment and persistence?
3. Three major dimentions:
Personality structure (traits)
Personality dynamics - how traits and circumstances interact and
influence behavior

 Personality modification how experience and/or intervention can modify

personality traits

B. Three Major Paradigms in Personality

1. Deterministic
Genetic/biological basis of personality
A dispositional approach
Followed by Freud, Jung etc.
Not very useful for scientific inquiry b/c not testable
2. Traits
Traits = enduring characteristics that predict a persons behavior in a
variety of situations
A dispositional approach
Popular in the 60s and 70s
3. Interactional
Emphasizes situational specificity to behavior
A social learning approach

C. Sports Personality - Questions

Some examples of questions that might be asked in the context of sports

personality are:
Is there an athlete personality?
Are there personality traits that predict athletic success?
Do certain personalities gravitate to certain sports?
Does personality change with sports participation?

D. Personality Research Techniques

1. Trait: 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire (Cattell); Minnesota Mutiphasic

Personaity Invetory etc.
2. Superordinate dimentions (Eysenck)
Extroversion-introversion
Neuroticism-stability
Psychoticism-superego
Eysencks work indicates that extroverts are more likely to
participate and succeed in sports
3. Typically, personality traits explain 10% or less of the behavioral variability in
any given situation

D. A Note on Eysenck (in book)

Used the traits model of personality (dispositional approach)
1. Set up three superordinate dimensions
- Introversion-extroversion
- Neuroticism-stability
- Psychoticism-superego
2. Follows the tradition of Freud, Jung
His theory was based largely on study of patients, not on healthy people
1. Book talks about positive (e.g., extroversion) and negative (neuroticism) factors
2. Makes sense in the context of mental illness (neurotic, psychotic)

E. Interactional Model of Behavior

1. A social learning based theory
2. Emphasizes the importance of the situation in determining behavior

 How stressful is the situation, ie the last inning of the 7th game of the
world series or a pre-season exhibition?
3. Interaction of person and the situation

F. Aggression
1. DEFINITION: Aggressive behavior is an overt verbal or physical act that
can psychologically or physically injure another person or oneself (Husman and
Silva)
2. Assertive behavior forceful but legal (according to sport rules) behaviors
that are NOT intended to injure
3. Can be a trait variable or can be considered situationally

4. Aggression Theories
a. Instinctual (deterministic) aggression is instinctual (intra &
interspecific aggression in animals) and humans have a drive to reach
catharsis - a reduction in aggression
b. Frustration-Aggression hypothesis
Frustration causes aggression, aggressive acts reduced
frustration (cathartic effect)
Not well accepted today
c. Social learning theory
Aggression is learned in social settings
Aggression occurs when expected reward outweighs expected
punishment

5. Aggression in Sport
Aggression is found in sports, contributing factors are:
a. Permissive atmosphere
Aggressive is used to describe legitimate assertive behavior and illegal
behavior

Legitimization of aggressive behavior

b. Socialization toward sanctioned deviance
Fighting in hockey is expected, socialization occurs at an early age
c. Reinforcement
Tactical advantage
Status reward

IV. Motivation
A. Definition
1. Motivation = intensity and direction of behavior
2. Selection, Investment, Persistence

B. Achievement motivation
1. Looks at selection, investment, persistence in evaluated situations
(competition, exam, performance etc.) with a success or failure outcome
2. High achievement motivation: select tasks of intermediate difficulty (~50%
chance of success) and apply effort and persistence
3. Low achievement motivation: select very easy (high chance of success) or very
hard tasks, less effort, less persistence

C. Intrinsic Motivation vs. Extrinsic Reward

1. Intrinsic motivation comes from within, love of the game, enjoyment from
participation
2. Extrinsic motivation is provided by external rewards money, fame, trophies,
etc.
3. Sometimes extrinsic rewards can decrease intrinsic motivation (play becomes
work)
Football players on scholarship were found to be less intrinsically
motivated than players not on scholarship (Ryan, 79)

 Success tends to increase intrinsic motivation

D. Ways to increase Intrinsic Motivation

1. Success
2. Increased personal responsibility (e.g., decision making in training or during
competition) increases sense of control
3. Praise verbal and nonverbal
4. Realistic goals
5. Variation in training routine