Mariana Kaiseler *, Remco C. J. Polman ** and Adam R. Nicholls ***
(*) Laboratório de Reabilitação Psicosocial, Facultade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Universidade do Porto, Portugal
(**) Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living, School of Sport and Exercise Science, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia
(***) Department of Psychology, University of Hull, United Kingdom
This study investigated gender differences in appraisal and coping among a sample of male and female soccer players. Two hundred and seventy-one participants (male n = 138; female n = 133; M age = 20.16 years, SD = 2.97) rated stress intensity and perceived control, and completed the MCOPE (Crocker & Graham, 1995) in response to three different experimenter defined stress scenarios. Results revealed that the females rated two scenarios with less perceived control and one scenario with higher stress intensity. Gender differences in coping, after controlling for stress intensity and control, were found across the three scenarios. This finding provides tentative support for the dispositional hypothesis. The results suggest that males and females differ in their preference for the use of certain coping strategies and that gender is a moderator in the stress appraisal and coping process.
Keywords: Stress, Appraisal, Coping, Gender, Dispositional hypothesis, Situational hypothesis
Koon Teck Koh *, C. K. John Wang *, Karl Erickson ** and Jean Côté **
(*) Motivation in Educational Research Lab, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
(**) Queens University, Canada
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between sport experiences and psychological needs satisfaction of Singapore high school athletes who were involved in inter-school competition. A total of 1250 school athletes from 22 sports participated in the study. The athletes were between 13 and 18 years old and had an average of 3 years of experience in school sport (SD=.18). Cluster analysis was employed to identify homogenous groups based on the seven developmental experiences domains of the Youth Experience Survey (YES 2.0; Hansen & Larson, 2005). A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to determine whether differences existed among the clusters in terms of psychological needs satisfaction (i.e., sense of autonomy, perceived competence and relatedness). The results of the cluster analysis showed that there were different subgroups of athletes with distinct developmental experiences, and they varied in the degree to which their psychological needs were satisfied. Generally, subgroups that had high levels of positive experiences and low levels of negative experiences in sport had better fulfillment of psychological needs. It is important to ensure that policies and programmes are formulated, delivered and monitored effectively to promote positive experiences for youth who are involved in competitive sports.
Keywords: Analysis Cluster, Psychological needs, Self-determination theory, Sport experiences, Youth
Christine Nash and John Sproule
Napier University & University of Edinburgh, UK
Coaches undertake coaching qualifications and accreditation for a variety of reasons but their views on both the quality and value of their subsequent learning remain wide ranging. This study investigated the impact of coach education qualifications on coaching practice across a range of coaching levels, sports and experience. A questionnaire, assessing their perceptions, was administered to practising sports coaches (n=621). Results revealed limited impact of coach education and qualifications on actual coaching practice. The results do suggest that coach education courses are able to deliver the sport specific content but generally are not able to fulfill the coach’s requirements when it comes to other aspects of coaching, for example, sport psychology or pedagogy. The coaches considered that group working enhanced their learning, which would require course deliverers to work more interactively and National Governing Bodies to reconsider their presentation format for all levels of awards.
Keywords: Coach education, Learning, Perceptions
Silvano Zanuso *, John C. Sieverdes **, Nicholas Smith ***, Attilio Carraro **** and Marco Bergamin *****
(*) Department of Sports Science, University of Greenwich, UK
(**) Department of Exercise Science, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
(***) Department of Exercise and Sport Science, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
(****) Department of Educational Sciences, University of Padova, Italy
(*****) Department of Medicine, University of Padova, Italy
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a strength training program on anxiety, affect, and mood in a group of older adults (≥ 65 years). Twenty men and women participated in a 12-week strength training program. Participants were randomized to an intervention and a waiting list control group. Results showed a significant improvement in the intervention group’s strength scores. Trait anxiety showed a decline in both groups. When mood profiles of participants were analyzed across the initial 12-week of the study, a dimension of mood called Vigor- Activity significantly decreased in the control group while the intervention group’s scores did not change. The affect data showed that negative affect decreased significantly in the intervention group following the training protocol. This study indicates that 12 weeks of strength training results in significant muscle strength increases and moderate improvements of the overall psychological profile.
Keywords: Anxiety, Elderly, Mood profile, Strenght
Corentin Clément-Guillotin */**, Aïna Chalabaev *** and Paul Fontayne ***
(*) University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis, LAMHES, France
(**) University of Paris-Sud 11, CIAMS (RIME), France
(***) Paris-Ouest University Nanterre La Défense, CeRSM, France
This study investigated whether sport is still nowadays considered as a masculine domain and whether the association between sport and masculinity may be modulated by individuals’ gender-role orientation. One hundred students performed an Implicit Association Test (IAT) implementing sport and education words with masculine versus feminine attributes. Next, they reported their gender-role orientation and explicit gender attitudes about sport and education. Participants implicitly and explicitly associated sport with masculinity. Gender-role orientation did not moderate this association contrary to participants’ sex. Men showed stronger automatic sport-masculinity association than women. Specifically, women were sensitive to the order of IAT blocks whereas men were not. This study suggests that the masculine connotation of sport is very robust in the males’ cognitive network. Interpretations of the results in light of the still higher participation of males in sport and the lesser social latitude to participate in sports arena that males have to face are discussed.
Keywords: Explicit attitudes, Gender, Masculinity, Implicit Association Test, Sport