Richard M. Buscombe * and Iain A. Greenlees **
(*) University of East London School of Health Sport and Bioscience, London UK
(**) University of Chichester School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences College Lane Chichester, Uk
Citation
M. Buscombe, R., A. Greenlees, I. (2012). The role of time pressure and accountability in moderating the impact of expectancies on judgments of tennis performance. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 43(4), 346-364. doi:10.7352/IJSP.2012.43.346
Abstract
Two studies are reported that investigated the role that time pressure and accountability play in moderating expectancy based judgments of a tennis player’s performance. Adopting a between subjects design, male participants (N = 57, N = 62, respectively) with experience of viewing or playing tennis watched video footage of a tennis player displaying either positive or negative body language during the standard warm-up period that precedes the start of a tennis match. An identical period of play was then viewed by all participants with judgments of the player’s performance being recorded on seven Likert-type scales. Time pressure (Study 1) and accountability (Study 2) served as additional independent variables which were manipulated in conjunction with the body language condition during the warm-up phase. In Study 1, between groups analysis of variance demonstrated an interaction between body language and time pressure (p = .001; ηp 2 = .18) such that when under time pressure the participants rated the player’s performance more favourably having previously viewed the player displaying positive as opposed to negative body language. In Study 2, between groups analysis of variance evidenced a main effect for body language (p = .02; ηp 2 = .10), however accountability was not seen to influence judgments of the player. This work confirms the existence of expectancy effects in sport and indicates that observers may be more susceptible to being influenced by prior held expectations of athletes when judgments are made under time pressure.
Keywords: Accountability, Social perception, Time pressure