Measure Athletes’ Volition—Short: Evidences for Construct Validity and Reliability

The Measure Athletes’ Volition consists of 23 items that measure six elements of volitional competences. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether a subset of these items could form a short version of the scale; to provide evidence for the structural validity and internal consistency of the short version; and to test validity issues of the new scale. A total of 831 individuals from three different samples completed the long version of the scale. Results indicated that the short version consisted of 15 items that measured volitional competences of persistence, expediency, and purposefulness. This scale had acceptable internal consistency and construct validity (differences between groups and convergent and concurrent validity). In conclusion, the short version of the scale is a reliable and valid measure for volitional competences

Development and initial validation of an instrument measuring athletes’ volition

This study describes the development and initial validation of a new instrument for the measurement of athletes’ volition – the Measure Athletes’ Volition (MAV). The findings from the exploratory factor analyses, which used 371 adolescent athletes, provided evidence for a six-factor solution with 23-item – goal (three items), effort with difficulties (four items), effort continuous (three items), persistence on effort (five items), decision making (three items), and intention (five items). Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a 23-item and six-factor structure provided acceptable model fit. In addition, the findings further supported the reliability of the above mentioned model

PHYSICAL DISABILITIES AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUES: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

The purpose of the present systematic review was to gather information on the interest of researchers on psychological issues of people with physical disabilities throughout a time period of twenty years (1995-2015). Previous similar reviews were not determined by the literature. For the implementation of their view electronic bases and hand search were used following specific criteria. Search revealed approximately 70.000 studies but only 58 in total covered the set criteria. The findings of the review revealed a limited research interest on psychological issues relevant to people with physical disabilities, with the interest increasing for the period 2006-2010. It was also found that descriptive, cross-sectional and qualitative research designs were preferred with data mainly gathered via questionnaires. Samples were derived from general and sport population (male and female). Finally, psychological issues mainly studies were parts of the self and emotions and less parts of personality and motivation.  Article visualizations

Students' perceived behaviors at school: a relation between behaviors in physical education lessons and the classroom

The purpose of this study was to investigate the students' perceived behavior during the physical education classes and in the classroom, to examine of the differences in the teachers’ perceptions, as well as to investigate any possible relations between behaviors in PE and the classroom. The sample consisted of 258 in-service teachers (n = 204 teachers of several disciplines and n = 54 PE teachers). The results indicated that teachers perceived a predominance of the “cooperation” behavior among students, while their perception is differentiated relevant to their teaching experience. In addition, in this study a relation between behaviors in PE and the classroom was also established. Consequently, it could be maintained that the students’ moral behavior in PE can contribute to the adoption of responsibility behaviors in the classroom

ATHLETIC IDENTITY PROFILE IN PEOPLE WITH PHYSICAL DISABILITIES

This study examined the perceived athletic identity and the effect factors that personal and disability-related characteristics (gender, age, family status (married, unmarried), education, occupational status, disability (congenital, acquired), type of disability (e.g., spinal cord injury) form of exercise, type of sport, experience, and form of games) in the formation of the athletic identity people with physical disabilities (n = 140). The participants completed a 7-item, 3-factor model of the Athletic Identity Measure Scale (AIMS; Brewer & Cornelius, 2001). The participants reported (a) a moderate social and exclusivity identity, and (b) strong negative affectivity identity. Additionally, they indicated that factors as family status, level education, disability, form of exercise, athletic experience and type of games affect significantly the formation of the athletic identity dimensions.  Article visualizations

AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF SELF-LEADERSHIP IN PHYSICAL ACTIVITY SETTINGS

The present study aimed to investigate the perceived extent of competence of self-leadership as well as the extent to which the participants exercise self-leadership strategies in physical activities (competitive and recreational). Additionally, the existence of potential individual differences in gender- and form of physical activity-related self-leadership strategies. Three hundred seventy-three undergraduate students from a Greek university (n = 197 men, and n = 176 women) with age range were between 18–24 years (M = 20.12, SD = 2.35) participated. All participants participated in physical activities. They filled out a validated Greek version of the Revised Self-leadership Questionnaire (RSLQ). Results revealed that participants reported (a) some positive self-leadership tendencies and (b) higher scores in the strategies such as self-goal setting, natural rewards and self-talk. Additionally, the findings demonstrated that self-leadership strategies may interact with gender and type of physical activity.  Article visualizations

The Influence of Religiosity on Moral Judgment in Sport

The creation of a much clearer view on religiosity-morality relations was the basic goal of the present study. Another goal was to examine the impact of factors (gender, type of sports) that possibly effect the formation of moral content judgment and parts of religiosity within a sport environment. The participants were 258 athletes of the Christian Orthodox faith (180 males and 78 females). All participants were involved in the fourteen sports. They filled out the Moral Content Judgment in Sport Questionnaire (MCJSQ), the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire (SCSRFQ), and the Religious Schema Scale (RSS). Results showed an effect of gender and type of sports on moral judgment and religiosity, respectively. Results also revealed the predicting ability of religiosity on moral judgment with religious schemas presenting more intense participation than that of religious faith

Volition profile of people with physical disability

Introduction: Volition is a determinant psychological factor in the improvement of the performance of the human behavior. The aim of the study was to analyze the volitional qualities; persistence, purposefulness and expediency based on personal characteristics and disability-related characteristics. Material and methods: The participants in this study were 140 people with physical disabilities (n=107 men, and n=33 women) while 10 people did not state their gender. Their age ranging from 14 to 67 years. The participants filled the questionnaire Measure Athletes' Volition-Short (MAV-S). In addition following factors were put into analysis: gender, age, family status, education, occupational status, disability [congenital versus acquired], type of disability [spinal cord injury, brain palsy, amputation, poliomyelitis, muscular dystrophy and other type], form of exercise [sport activities - competitive versus recreational - and any activity], type of sport [team versus individual sports], type of experience [resistance, strength and skills], and form of games [Paralympic, European, National and Sectional]). Results: show that the people with physical disabilities who mainly take part in, physical activities manifest a high level volitional qualities (persistence, purposefulness, and expediency). Conclusions: Personal characteristics like form of exercise, type of sport (team, individual) and athletic experience play a moderating role in the existence of individual differences in volitional qualities

Psycho-social aspects of morality in sports

In sports, but also in society, a continuous difference of opinions about the decisions of others can be observed. According to the literature, a significant role in the making of moral decisions is played by moral reasoning, but also by the motives that are active in an individual on each occasion. The main purpose of the present study was to observe whether moral reasoning and motivation affect the making of moral decisions. At the same time, particular objectives were to inspect the relationship of moral reasoning to age, education, and the social experiences of a sample population, as well as potential differentiations of moral choices in relation to an individual's moral maturity, age, and education level, and to estimate the perceptions of coaches and refereeing observers concerning the moral orientation of players and referees respectively. The sample consisted of 423 persons, (n=342 males and n=81 females). Their age ranged from 14 to 52 years, while all levels of education were represented among the participants. In terms of their form of participation, 147 were referees, 235 were athletes, and 50 were coaches, while in terms of sports 148 of them were involved in football, 141 in handball, and 143 in basketball. The referees and players each filled out three questionnaires, one about the estimation of moral judgment the “Defining Issues Test” (Rest, 1979), one about goal orientation “Task and Ego Orientation in Sport” (Duda, 1989), and one about the choice of moral decisions in sports, while the coaches, instead of the goal orientation questionnaire, filled out the questionnaire about their perception of the moral judgment of their players. Finally, the refereeing observers filled out a questionnaire comparable to that of the coaches about their perception of the moral judgment o f referees. T h e study based i t s e l f o n the cognitive-developmental theory of Kohlberg (1969, 1976), but also on goal achievement theory (Nicholls 1984a, 1984b, 1989). The results partially confirmed the initial hypotheses. In particular, they showed that in sports, individuals make choices in a different way, guided by different motives for the making o f a decision. Out o f the developmental variables, namely age, education, and social experiences, age by itself was found not to affect individuals' moral judgment. In contrast, all three of these variables were found to affect decision-making processes. The different form of participation in sports appeared to affect individuals' choices for the resolution of problems that result during a game to a significant extent, while it did not seems to affect the development of individuals' moral judgment. Furthermore, moral maturity and goal orientation were found to exert significant influence on the making of moral decisions. Finally, it was observed that the orientation of players' and referees' moral judgment could be predicted by the coaches and refereeing observers respectively. The image of morality in sports that the results of the present study showed originated from specific sports and not from the sum of them, and from a part of the people who participate in sports. For this reason, it is proposed that future studies also include other sports and individuals with different forms of participation in sports, for a more complete picture of morality in sports