Psychosocial determinants of dimensions of performance

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The CSGU: A Measure of Controllability, Stability, Globality, and Universality Attributions

This article reports initial evidence of construct validity for a four-factor measure of attributions assessing the dimensions of controllability, stability, globality, and universality (the CSGU). In Study 1, using confirmatory factor analysis, factors were confirmed across least successful and most successful conditions. In Study 2, following less successful performances, correlations supported hypothesized rela­tionships between subscales of the CSGU and subscales of the CDSII (McAuley, Duncan, & Russell, 1992). In Study 3, following less successful performances, moderated hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that individuals have higher subsequent self-efficacy when they perceive causes of performance as controllable, and/or specific, and/or universal. An interaction for controllability and stability demonstrated that if causes are perceived as likely to recur, it is important to perceive that causes are controllable. Researchers are encouraged to use the CSGU to examine main and interactive effects of controllability and generalizability attributions upon outcomes such as self-efficacy, emotions, and performance

Authors' Reply to Hill: Comment on "The Great British Medalists Project: A Review of Current Knowledge on the Development of the World's Best Sporting Talent".

This letter refers to the original article available at: doi:10.1007/s40279-016-0476-2; https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs40279-016-0476-2; http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/23120

Attribution in sport psychology: Seeking congruence between theory, research and practice

Objectives: This paper urges revision of the way attributions are conceptualised, investigated, and applied in sport psychology. There has been a recent decline in attribution research in sport psychology, despite the generally accepted relevance of attributions in applied settings. In seeking closer links between attribution theory, research, and practice, we argue that there is a mismatch between research and practice in sport psychology. Methods: Relevant literature is reviewed and theoretical arguments offered within seven sub-headings: Attribution theory in practice; linking consistency, distinctiveness, and consensus information to attribution dimensions; controllability as the primary attribution dimension; the generalisability of controllability; assessing attributions; implications for practice; and the social context. Results and conclusions: Research within sport psychology should focus on the central issue of how controllability attributions generalise across time, situations, and people. Measurement should reflect this approach to research within the field of attributions and, to this end, researchers might consider using a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods of inquiry. Practitioners should use consistency, distinctiveness, and consensus information to challenge clients' attributional thinking and help them attain adaptive perceptions of controllability. Practitioners should also help clients to be their own psychologist. Future research and practice should include a consideration of the social context in which attributions are shaped. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

The devil's in the detail: Accessibility of specific personal memories supports rose-tinted self-generalizations in mental health and toxic self-generalizations in clinical depression.

Models of memory propose that separate systems underpin the storage and recollection of specific events from our past (e.g., the first day at school), and of the generic structure of our experiences (e.g., how lonely I am), and that interplay between these systems serves to optimize everyday cognition. Specifically, it is proposed that memories of discrete events help define the circumstances (boundary conditions) in which our generalized knowledge applies, thereby enhancing accuracy of memory-dependent cognitive processes. However, in the domain of self-judgment, cognition is systematically biased, with a robust self-enhancement bias characterizing healthy individuals and a negativity bias characterizing the clinically depressed. We hypothesized that self-enhancement effects in the mentally healthy may partly rest on an impaired ability for specific memories to set appropriate boundary conditions on positive self-generalizations, while the opposite may be true for self-referred negative traits in the depressed. To assess this, we asked healthy and depressed individuals to think about the applicability of a trait to themselves, then to recall a specific memory that was inconsistent with that trait which would therefore index a boundary condition for its applicability. Healthy individuals showed faster recall only for specific positive memories following negative trait evaluations, while depressed individuals demonstrated faster recall only of specific negative memories following positive trait evaluations-the pattern expected given the respective self-enhancement and negativity biases. Results suggest that specific memories may serve to delimit self-generalizations in biased ways, and thus support systemic biases in trait judgments characteristic of healthy and depressed individuals. (PsycINFO Database Recor

Enacted support and golf-putting performance: The role of support type and support visibility

Objectives This study examined whether the impact of enacted support on performance differed across type (esteem and informational) and visibility (visible and invisible) of support. It further tested whether self-efficacy mediated the enacted support-performance relationship. Design A one-factor (support manipulation) between subjects experiment. Method A fellow novice golfer — in reality a confederate — was scripted to randomly provide one of five support manipulations (visible informational support, invisible informational support, visible esteem support, invisible esteem support, and no support) to participants (n = 105). Immediately after, participants completed a self-efficacy measure and then performed a golf-putting task. Results The results demonstrated that participants given visible esteem support significantly outperformed those given no support and those given invisible esteem support. Participants given invisible informational support significantly outperformed those given no support. Although non-significant, the observed mean difference and moderate effect size provided weak evidence that those in the invisible informational support condition may have performed at a higher level than those in the visible informational support condition. There was no evidence that self-efficacy could explain any of these effects. Conclusion The results suggest that enacted support can benefit novices’ performance and that it is crucial to consider both the type and the visibility of the support. Esteem support is particularly effective when communicated in an explicit and direct manner but informational support appears more effective when communicated in a more subtle, indirect manner

The PASS-Q: The Perceived Available Support in Sport Questionnaire

This article provides initial evidence for the construct validity of the Perceived Available Support in Sport Questionnaire (PASS-Q), which assesses emotional, esteem, informational, and tangible support. In Study 1, con analyses provided evidence for a four-dimension factor structure. Correlations supported hypothesized relationships between the PASS-Q dimensions and the Social Support Survey questions (Richman, Rosenfeld, & Hardy, 1993). In Study 2, the four-dimension factor structure was supported in an independent sample. Further, higher levels of perceived available emotional, esteem, informational, and tangible support were associated with higher levels of self-con levels of burnout. Researchers are encouraged to use the PASS-Q to examine the effects of perceived available support in sport contexts.!rmatory factor!dence and lowe

Organizational Stressors, Social Support, and Implications for Subjective Performance in High-Level Sport

Objectives: Although much is now known about the role of social support in the competitive stress process, scholars have yet to examine this moderator in relation to organizational stress. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between perceived organizational stressors and subjective performance in sport, with particular focus on the potential moderating role of social support. Design and Methods: Talented athletes (N = 122; 60 male; Mage = 20.50) completed questionnaires of perceived organizational stressors, social support, and subjective athletic performance. Results: In addition to evidence of main effects, analyses revealed four significant interactions which demonstrated that social support did act as a significant moderator of the relationship between organizational stressors and subjective performance. Contrary to the extant literature, however, the findings illustrated reverse buffering. Associations suggest that some dimensions of social support exacerbated rather than mitigated athletes’ stress reactions (i.e. impaired performance) when encountering greater frequencies of organizational stressors. Conclusion: These findings not only advance theoretical understanding of the organizational stress process, but also present a number of significant implications for athletes, coaches, and applied practitioners aiming to enhance performance in pressurized and demanding situations. Specifically, recommendations are forwarded for practitioners to address coaching stressors and provide effective social support that is matched to the stressors that he or she encounters

External Factors Affecting Motorway Capacity

AbstractA method for assessing the impact of external factors on motorway capacity is presented. Factors such as precipitation, lighting conditions, merge, diverge and HGV percentages were considered. A univariate analysis of variance shows that different factors are affect capacity between different motorway locations, and that only part of the observed variance in capacity is explained. Suggestions for improvements are made, including the use of higher resolution data and the parameterization of more factors