Winning in Weight-loss: The Interaction of Conscientiousness and Perceived Autonomy

ABSTRACT Background Understanding determinants for weight-loss is a national priority. Obesity is an epidemic with serious health consequences. Most of today’s obesity and overweight problems are being attributed to poor diets and not enough physical activity. These problems show no signs of slowing down with the behaviors of most Americans. The phenomenon of “The Biggest Loser” (different variants of weight-loss programs that consist of group exercise participation and nutrition therapy to elicit weight-loss, and hopefully behavior change) has spawned many variants in commercial health clubs. This prospectus study examined the direct and interactive or moderated effects of known determinants of healthy behaviors. Those determinants were conscientiousness and perceived autonomy support. Thus, the purpose of this prospective study was to examine these two determinants of adhering to a variant of “The Biggest Loser” to gain more scientific knowledge of predictors of those that are successful in such commercial programs. Methods Participants were 64 adults who completed measures of conscientiousness and perceived autonomy support along with a number of other measures being taken such as weight, attendance, and relative autonomy for exercise prior to and during the 12-week Weight-loss program. Participants’ attendance was kept based on showing up to the five scheduled weight and body fat percentage measurements time points during the 12-week program. At final weigh-in, the participants completed the measure of perceived autonomy support from their group exercise leader. Results Overall, conscientiousness appeared to be the most influential variable in the prospective study. It correlated with relative autonomy (r=.26, M=11.36, SD=6.43), perceived leader autonomy support (r=.08, M=5.32, SD=1.58, α=.97), attendance (r=.14, M=3.84, SD=1.31), and change in weight (r=-.09, M=-15.26, SD=29.06).Results from the moderated regression analyses, one set for attendance and the other for change in weight, suggested that conscientiousness was the major determinant in this prospective study though admitted the correlations were small in magnitude. Conclusions As hypothesized, the interaction of autonomy support (high) and conscientiousness (high) yielded the greatest amount of weight loss. Thus, for the sample in this prospective study, best results were found in highly conscientiousness participants that perceived their group exercise leader to provide a great deal of autonomy support. Future, studies should investigate environmental factors to increase both participant conscientiousness (e.g., reminder phone calls) and leader provided autonomy support

Task and ego goal orientations in competitive sport: a quantitative review of the literature from 1989 to 2016

Achievement goal theory (AGT) is a dominant theoretical framework. The purposes of this review were (1) to provide a summary of the task and ego goal orientations literature in competitive sport as measured by the Task and Ego Orientations in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ) or the Perceptions of Success in Sport Questionnaire (POSQ), (2) to test the interdependence of the two goal orientations, and (3) to provide the estimated means for both orientations across a number of historically examined moderator variables. 260 studies met inclusion criteria totaling 80,959 unique participants across 39 countries and 32 sports. Youth samples were nearly 50% of all included studies. The meta-analyzed intercorrelations (rw=.18, z=9.96, p<.000) supported the conceptualized interdependence of the two goal orientations. The estimated mean values were 4.15+.30 (task) and 3.04+.51 (ego). However, differences, POSQ compared to TEOSQ, existed in the estimated means (g=.92 task; g=1.09 ego). Thus, the TEOSQ and POSQ samples for the moderator variables (i.e. sex, sport level, sport type, and collective/individualistic countries) were examined separately. Results both supported and refuted the hypotheses and also differed by measure. Because of TEOSQ and POSQ inconsistencies, an additional analysis was undertaken to examine whether the TEOSQ and POSQ differed to a common correlate motivation climate. This analysis revealed measurement differences in the ego to ego climate relationships. In conclusion, AGT has been extensively researched in competitive sport. The inconsistent pattern of results raises a number of future research questions

A Meta-Analytic Review of Achievement Goal Orientation Correlates in Competitive Sport: A Follow-Up to Lochbaum et al. (2016)

Recent quantitative research in competitive sport with the Task and Ego Orientations in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ) and Perceptions of Success Questionnaire (POSQ) pointed to a potential critical issue that the two questionnaires did not agree across a number tested hypotheses (Lochbaum, Kazak Çetinkalp, Graham, Wright, & Zazo, 2016). Thus, the present quantitative review examined whether correlates of the two achievement goal orientations were moderated by the two measures. To achieve this purpose, 772 unique correlates (489 TEOSQ, 283 POSQ; 402 task orientation, 370 ego orientation) from 93 studies spanning 1989-2016 from 32 countries with 26,387 participants were placed into 15 different categories and meta-analyzed. The task goal orientation was significantly and small to moderate in meaningfulness related to adaptive success factors (rw=.29), maladaptive success factors (rw=-.12), desirable behaviors (rw=.28), positive emotions (rw=.35), amotivation (rw=-.13), extrinsic motivation (rw=.20), external regulations (rw=.12), internal regulations (rw=.34), intrinsic motivation (rw=.47), the mastery/task climate (rw=.38), perceived competence (rw=.26), and trait selfesteem (rw=.35). The ego goal orientation was significantly and small in meaningfulness related to adaptive success factors (rw=.10), maladaptive success factors (rw=.12), negative emotions (rw=.11), undesirable behaviors (rw=.23), amotivation (rw=.16), extrinsic motivation (rw=.28), external regulation (rw=.21), intrinsic motivation (rw=.14), performance/ego climate (rw=.28), and perceived competence (rw=.17). The questionnaire measure was a significant moderator for the task goal orientation relationship with desirable behaviors (POSQ rw=.24; TEOSQ rw=.37), internal regulations (POSQ rw=.26; TEOSQ rw=.39), and trait self-esteem (POSQ rw=.45; TEOSQ rw=.32) and for the ego goal orientation relationship with performance/ego climate (POSQ rw=.34; TEOSQ rw=.24). Overall, the extent of the questionnaire type being a concern when examining correlates was fortunately minimal. Yet, differences in the two dominant measures exit. Recommendations for future research examining both the TEOSQ and POSQ were proposed

Relationships Between Anthropometric and Performance Variables in Youth: Predictors of Lower-Body Vertical Jump Peak Power

ABSTRACT Anthropometric and physical performance measurements are commonly used for identifying specific physical traits in youth. Laboratory-based tests (e.g., linear velocity transducers), while accurate, provide practical limitations due to high costs and technical necessities. Thus, commonly used field tests may be useful alternatives for assessing fitness/performance characteristics of youth. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between anthropometric measures and lower-and upper-body power and strength measures; and to assess the predictive ability of these measures for lower-body vertical jump peak power (PP) output in youth. Thirty-nine pre-adolescent (mean±SD, range: age=7.8±1.7, 5-12 years) children volunteered to participate in this investigation. Subjects were measured for body mass and stature on a calibrated physicians scale. Lower-body PP was assessed using a linear velocity transducer, which was attached to the posterior side of a belt that was securely fastened to the subjects’ waistline. Subjects performed countermovement jumps, starting in a standing position, with hands placed on hips and feet firmly on the ground. Following the descent to the midpoint position and without pause, the subjects exploded upward as hard and fast as possible. Broad jump testing involved subjects performing a countermovement jump in the horizontal direction, on a scaled mat. Maximum isometric hand grip strength of the dominant hand was assessed using a dynamometer. For all testing, 1-2 practice trials were performed, followed by testing consisting of 2-3 trials. The highest trial was used for analyses. Peak power values were normalized to body mass using allometric scaling procedures (PP· body mass-0.67). Pearson correlation (r) and stepwise linear regression analyses were performed to examine the relationships. Results indicated all variables (age, stature, body mass, broad jump and grip strength) were significantly correlated (r=0.38-0.64) to PP. Age was correlated to all variables (r=0.39-0.82) and stature and body mass were correlated to all variables (r=0.37-0.77) except broad jump. Broad jump was correlated only to age (r=0.39) and PP (r=0.38). Linear regression for all variables revealed that stature was the only variable entered into the model (R=0.64; R2=0.41). With the anthropometric variables removed, grip strength was the only variable entered into the model (R=0.57; R2=0.32). These findings suggest that while all the anthropometric and performance variables may be correlated to PP, only stature and grip strength were effective, and thus, necessary to predict PP abilities. Interestingly, broad jump performance was not a good predictor of lower body vertical PP

Sport psychology and performance meta-analyses: A systematic review of the literature

Sport psychology as an academic pursuit is nearly two centuries old. An enduring goal since inception has been to understand how psychological techniques can improve athletic performance. Although much evidence exists in the form of meta-analytic reviews related to sport psychology and performance, a systematic review of these meta-analyses is absent from the literature. We aimed to synthesize the extant literature to gain insights into the overall impact of sport psychology on athletic performance. Guided by the PRISMA statement for systematic reviews, we reviewed relevant articles identified via the EBSCOhost interface. Thirty meta-analyses published between 1983 and 2021 met the inclusion criteria, covering 16 distinct sport psychology constructs. Overall, sport psychology interventions/variables hypothesized to enhance performance (e.g., cohesion, confidence, mindfulness) were shown to have a moderate beneficial effect (d = 0.51), whereas variables hypothesized to be detrimental to performance (e.g., cognitive anxiety, depression, ego climate) had a small negative effect (d = -0.21). The quality rating of meta-analyses did not significantly moderate the magnitude of observed effects, nor did the research design (i.e., intervention vs. correlation) of the primary studies included in the meta-analyses. Our review strengthens the evidence base for sport psychology techniques and may be of great practical value to practitioners. We provide recommendations for future research in the area

Discourse structure and language technology

This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.An increasing number of researchers and practitioners in Natural Language Engineering face the prospect of having to work with entire texts, rather than individual sentences. While it is clear that text must have useful structure, its nature may be less clear, making it more difficult to exploit in applications. This survey of work on discourse structure thus provides a primer on the bases of which discourse is structured along with some of their formal properties. It then lays out the current state-of-the-art with respect to algorithms for recognizing these different structures, and how these algorithms are currently being used in Language Technology applications. After identifying resources that should prove useful in improving algorithm performance across a range of languages, we conclude by speculating on future discourse structure-enabled technology.Peer Reviewe