Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Christianity And Sport Psychology: One Aspect Of Cultural Competence, Trevor J. Egli, Leslee A. Fisher

Movement and Being: The Journal of the Christian Society for Kinesiology, Leisure and Sports Studies

There is currently a dearth of literature relating to how applied sport psychology practitioners might work with a Christian sportsperson (Czech et al., 2004, Egli et al., 2014). Therefore, the purpose of this article is to provide practical suggestions for sport psychology practitioners based on relevant research related to Christianity and sport psychology as well as personal and professional experience. We first explain the various sport psychology roles before providing a brief review of literature. Studies related to Christian athletes, Christian coaches, Christian prayer within sport, and sport psychology consultants’ experiences of spirituality are presented. Lastly, the authors include four …

A Psychotheology Of Losing, Matthew D. Ruiz

Movement and Being: The Journal of the Christian Society for Kinesiology, Leisure and Sports Studies

This paper explores what it means to lose in a contemporary American society. Kanter (2004) suggested that losing serves as an alarm, notifying one that it is time to recalibrate. For Duina (2011) losing offers a time for reexamination. Sports equates to winning and losing. Thanks to well-indoctrinated maxims like Lombardi’s “winning is the only thing” and a cultural rejection of “losers” we are in an era where the pursuit of winning trumps other variables which are also worthy of pursuit and consideration. Thus, losing becomes an insult to our ego-driven lives. As such, one cannot discuss losing without also …

Religiousness And Perceived God Perfectionism Among Elite Athletes, Benjamin J. Houltberg, Kenneth T. Wang, Sarah A. Schnitker

Movement and Being: The Journal of the Christian Society for Kinesiology, Leisure and Sports Studies

Little research has been conducted examining the link between athletes’ religious beliefs and practices and coping with the pressures related to elite competition. The purpose of the study was to investigate athletes’ global self-worth and perfectionistic concerns as key variables that link religiousness and perceived God perfectionism to dealing with performance failure and appraisals of upcoming competition. Self-report data was collected from a sample of 99 elite athletes (Mdn age = 22, 48% female, 89% believed in God) that were currently competing at a NCAA D1, professional or Olympic level. We used structural equation modeling to test direct and indirect …

Exploring The Role Of Spirituality And Spiritual Beliefs In The Pursuit Of Excellence And Attainment Of Peak Performance In Professional Athletes, Ashley Ballard, Charles H. Wilson Jr.

Movement and Being: The Journal of the Christian Society for Kinesiology, Leisure and Sports Studies

Little research has been found which examines the assessment of spirituality in sport performers and its possible role in performance enhancement. The goal of the current study was to understand if and how spirituality impacts athleticism. The subjective experiences of Christian spirituality in an American World Sprinter (male), a British Olympic Sprint Canoe Racer (female), and a retired American Minor League Baseball player (male) were analyzed through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) (Smith & Osborn, 2003). Semi-structured interviews were used to gather data leading to three major themes: “The Belief and Confidence in God”, “Individual and Communal Prayer”, and “The Influential …

Legal Analysis Of Ncaa Student-Athletes Worker's Compensation Status, James M. Long

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

The Lived Experiences Of Position Specialists In A Team Sport Environment, Allison Brooke Smith

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to discover the lived-experiences of position specialists in a team sport environment. Participants were intercollegiate male and female specialists (pitchers, kickers, punters, and goalies; N = 21) who were enrolled and participating in Division I, II, and III college sport (softball, baseball, football, women’s soccer, men’s soccer, women’s lacrosse, men’s hockey, and women’s hockey) at institutions throughout the South, Midwest, and Northeast. Interviews were conducted in person and via the phone with participants.

Interview transcripts were transcribed and then analyzed using grounded theory approach of collapsing codes down into categories or themes (Glaser & …

The Role Of Mentoring For Women In Upper Management In The National Basketball Association (Nba), Manuela Picariello

Doctoral Dissertations

Despite years of progress by women in the workforce, climbing the corporate ladder is still a very daunting task for most women (Eagly & Carli, 2007; Evans, 2010; McKinsey Report, 2013), and occupational segregation still exists (Davidson & Burke, 2011). Research studies have reported that mentoring in general is critical to upward mobility (Allen, Eby, O’Brien, & Lentz, 2008; Allen, Eby, Poteet, Lentz, & Lima, 2004; Eby, Allen, Evans, Ng, & DuBois, 2008). To date there has not been a study with a focus on mentoring and female executives in professional sport. In the 2014 Racial and Gender Report Card …

United States Elite Youth Tennis Athletes’ Use Of Psychological Strategies In Competition, Emily Earlynn Lauer

Doctoral Dissertations

Young athletes are routinely faced with stressors and competitive structures that collegiate and adult athletes face. Psychological skills training (PST) can provide young athletes with strategies and skills to cope with these stressors and ultimately influence sport performance (Vealey, 2007). To date, the only study exploring in-competition experiences of young athletes was with participants between 16 and 18 years of age (Van Raalte, Brewer, Rivera, & Petitpas, 1994). The current study is the first investigation on the in-competition experiences of children and adolescents in sport. Twelve elite young tennis athletes (M[subscript]age = 11.83) who trained within a Player Development program …

Self-Control Effect During A Reduction Of Feedback Availability, Aaron Dean Von Lindern

Doctoral Dissertations

A growing body of recent research has pointed to the potential value of allowing learners to have some autonomy in shaping their learning environment. Studies of this so-called self-control effect have demonstrated that allowing learners to control some aspect of the instructional setting facilitates motor learning compared to conditions that are controlled externally. The purpose of the present study is to examine how learners ostensibly provided self-control over feedback behave when the actual availability of feedback is constrained by a predetermined schedule of coach availability to provide feedback. Furthermore, an investigation into potential underlying mechanisms will be examined through a …

An Exploration Of Us Ncaa Division I (Di) Female Soccer Players’ Perceptions Regarding Morality In Sport, Terilyn Chiemi Shigeno

Doctoral Dissertations

To date, little research exists with regard to how athletes think about morality within sport (e.g., Bredemeier & Shields, 1984, 1986; Kavussanu, 2007, 2008; Shields & Bredemeier, 1995; Weiss, 1987), and even less exists which explores the concepts of bracketed morality or game reasoning within sport contexts (e.g., Bredemeier & Shields, 1984, 1986; Kavussanu, Boardley, Sager, & Ring, 2013. The same is true for research related to sport moral identity (e.g., Bredemeier & Shields, 1984, 1986; Kavussanu, 2007, 2008; Kavussanu, Willoughby, & Ring, 2012; Sage & Kavussanu, 2010; Sage, Kavussuanu, & Duda, 2006; Shields & Bredemeier, 1995; Weiss, 1987) …

Bringing Fútbol Fever To Rocky Top: An Analytical History Of The Regal Rowdies, Matthew H. Proffitt

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Experiences Of Female High School Head Coaches, Kathleen A. Mcinnis

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Student-Athlete Awareness Of Athletic Career Transition And Transferable Skills, Michelle Lynn Woods

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to measure student-athlete’s awareness of transferable skills, identify what skills are most transferable, and identify the resources available to aid student-athletes in the transition from athletic career retirement to a non-athletic career setting. A modified version of McKnight’s (2007) survey was used to collect data regarding student-athlete awareness of career transition and transferable skills. One hundred and sixty student-athletes participated in the survey, which was comprised of three parts: (a) transferable skills, (b) career transition, and (c) demographic information. A quantitative approach utilized descriptive statistics to identify student-athlete’s awareness of transferable skills, the most …

Match Analysis Of A Women's Volleyball Championship Game, Hannah Reagan Cornelius

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Burnout In Young Adult Performing Artists, Benjamin Hyun Stocking

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the experience of burnout in adolescent/young adult performing arts (i.e. a World-Class junior drum & bugle corps) at the beginning of their competitive training season. Specifically, this study took particular interest in investigating the predictive influence of psychological variables such as performance anxiety, psychological coping skills, and coping functions in predicting who was more prone to burnout as well as who returned or dropped out after the competitive season.

Data were drawn from an archive of 144 drum corps performers, representing one world class drum and bugle corps at the beginning of …

Development Of The Coach Autonomy Support Beliefs Scale, Johannes Jakob Raabe

Doctoral Dissertations

Coaches’ autonomy support is one of the most meaningful influences on the satisfaction of athletes’ basic psychological needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness (Mageau & Vallerand, 2003). Fostering these needs cultivates self-determined motivation (Deci & Ryan, 2000), which has been found to positively affect individuals’ effort, persistence when faced with adversity, performance, performance-related anxiety, and well-being (Gillet, Berjot, & Gobance, 2009; Mack et al., 2011; Podlog & Dionigi, 2010; Vallerand & Losier, 1999). The reasoned action approach (Fishbein & Ajzen, 2010) suggests that coaches’ attitude, perceived behavioral control, and perceived norm toward autonomy support influences their use of autonomysupportive behaviors. …

Development Of The Running Identity Scale, Matthew Philip Bejar

Doctoral Dissertations

The construct of running identity has been explored in both the sport psychology (e.g., Busanich, McGannon, & Schinke, 2012) and sport sociology literature (e.g., Allen-Collinson & Hockey, 2007). In comparison to other athletes, runners are typically more susceptible to exercise addiction (Coen & Ogles, 1993; Sachs, 1981), eating disorders (Wheeler, Wall, Belcastro, Conger, & Cumming, 1986), and preoccupation with leanness (Allen-Collinson & Hockey, 2007; Busanich et al., 2015). While instruments such as the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS; Brewer, Van Raalte, & Linder, 1993) and the Public-Private Athletic Identity Scale (PPAIS; Webb & Nasco, 2006) measure athletic identity, there are …

“I Haven’T Worked To Be A Token:” A Narrative Inquiry Of The Experiences Of Eight Black Female Assistant Coaches In Ncaa Division I Women’S Basketball, Leslie Kaye Larsen

Doctoral Dissertations

In NCAA Division I women’s basketball, the majority of student-athletes are Black (i.e.. 51%); however, Black women make up only a small percentage of the total number of coaches at this level (i.e., 25%; NCAA, 2015). Although these discrepancies have recently been recognized in sport studies literature (Borland & Bruening, 2010; LaVoi & Dutove, 2012), sport psychology researchers have yet to explore the underlying structural and psychological issues that lead to the underrepresentation of Black female coaches in NCAA Division I women’s basketball. To this end, narrative inquiry (Smith & Sparkes, 2009) was utilized in the current study to explore …

“Will The Crested Cranes Be There In The Future?” An Exploration Of The Ugandan Senior Women’S National Football Team, Alicia Jane Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations

Previous research has demonstrated that gender inequity exists in national level competitive sport in Uganda (Kateshumbwa, 2011). The Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) established the women’s senior national football team, the Crested Cranes, in the early 1990s (FUFA, n.d.); however, only the men’s senior national football team, the Cranes, has been referenced in the literature (Chappell, 2008; Kasoma, 2013). The purpose of this study was to explore (a) how Ugandan women experience football (soccer) in terms of their social identities (e.g., gender, ethnicity, social class, nationality, geographic location); (b) how Ugandan women experience being a player on the senior …

Academic Choices Matter For Collegiate Student-Athletes, Kendra Arielle Berry

Masters Theses

As college athletics has grown during the last two decades, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the governing institution of college athletics in the United States, has renewed its focus on academic reform and the academic performance of student-athletes (Petr & McArdle, 2012). Athletic administrators and academic support units have started to exert a greater amount of control over student-athletes’ academic lives. However, research with general samples of college students has suggested that having some degree of autonomy is important for academic performance. This raises questions about whether increased control (and reduced autonomy) is actually in the best interest of …

Student-Athlete Career Development Through Community Service: A Retrospective Study, Jackson Zane Martin

Masters Theses

This study examined the career development of seven former Southeastern Conference (SEC) student-athletes who were awarded membership to the SEC Community Service team through their contributions both with their teams and individually. The NCAA Division-I student-athlete population is a unique subset of college students that face hindrances through time restraints but also have designated sources aimed to enhance their academic and vocational development, with the latter usually assigned to full-time Life Skills administrators. Through a series of phone interviews focused on reflective collegiate community service and career development, several themes emerged. For collegiate community service the most common themes were: …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Athletic Satisfaction And Student Adaptation To College, Brian C. Russell

Doctoral Dissertations

Research on the experience of student-athletes at the collegiate level suggests that they may face challenges and hurdles in adjusting to college differently than those faced by students of the general student population. Additionally, research on student satisfaction suggests that a student’s satisfaction has an impact on the academic experience and retention of students, while research on athletic satisfaction suggests a relationship exists between athletic and academic satisfaction for student-athletes. However, it remains unclear whether there is a positive or negative relationship between the experiences of adjustment to college and athletic satisfaction of a student-athlete.

The purpose of this study …

Empowering Women And Girls Through Sports: An Evaluation Of A U.S. Department Of State Sports Diplomacy Initiative, Alexis Morgan Skaggs

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Fostering Global Leaders: A Case Study Of The Korea Foundation For The Next Generation Sports Talent And Its Partnership With The University Of Tennessee, Knoxville, Benjamin Hisung Nam

Masters Theses

The Korea Foundation for the Next Generation Sports Talent (NEST) and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville have been collaborating to foster global sports talent through academic cooperation and have been interacting to reeducate retired South Korean elite athletes since December, 2008. The purpose of the partnership is to create mutual international understandings between the two parties. This study explores the intended/initial goals of the partnership and whether these goals have changed (if so how and why) or remained the same. If the goals have remained the same, has anything changed? Results indicate that fostering global leadership skills, English language training, …

Collegiate Novice Rowers’ Motivations: An Application Of Self-Determination Theory, Amy Nicole Kuuskoski

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to understand the reasons why novice rowers choose to join collegiate rowing teams. There is no existing research specifically analyzing this population, and the unique team structure in rowing makes previous sport participation research difficult to generalize to this population. The reasons for sport participation vary widely by age, gender, and level of competition.

This study integrates self-determination theory and organismic integration theory with scales to measure satisfaction and behavioral intentions, and data were collected through the use of a web-based survey. Schools competing in NCAA Division I and II rowing conferences were contacted …

The Relationship Between Parent Communication Orientations And The Self-Efficacy Of Student-Athletes, Sara Marie Erdner

Masters Theses

The influence of parent(s)/guardian(s) communication on a student-athlete’s self-efficacy has received limited attention despite its potential implications for the athlete’s sport performance. Student-athlete participants (N = 290) completed measures to report their level of self-efficacy along with the student-athlete perceptions of their parent(s)/guardian’(s) communication orientation. Further, efficacy-enhancing techniques were measured to report frequency-of-use and effectiveness as these strategies were administered by the parent(s)/guardian(s). Significant relationships were found between conformity- and conversation communication and a student-athlete’s self-efficacy. However, these communication orientations did not interact to influence a student-athlete’s self-efficacy. Mean scores are reported to demonstrate which efficacy-enhancing techniques are the most …

A Multi-University Examination Of College Student-Athlete & Coach Fit, Amanda Celeste Alexander

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines the relationship between student-athletes’ personality traits and satisfaction with their collegiate coaching experience, as guided by vocational research and theory on job satisfaction and turnover. Specifically, this study was designed to examine both broad and narrow personality traits in relation to student-athletes’ satisfaction across four dimensions of the student-athlete/coach relationship and to explore intent to transfer as a dependent of these variables. This study is an expansion of a previous study investigation of personality and satisfaction with coaching (Levy, Alexander, & Lounsbury, under review). A national sample of NCAA Division I, II, and III collegiate student-athletes was …

"Game Time Is My Time. I Get To Define That:" Gender, Identity, And The National Football League's Female Fans, Traci Yates

Doctoral Dissertations

Based on existing literature relatively little is known about the female football fan in America. Previous research has acknowledged that these women exist, often in startling proportions. It has also identified some of the reasons why they attend the game and some of the perceived benefits of their participation as fans (Clark, Apostolopoulou, & Gladden, 2009; Dietz-Uhler, Harrick, End, & Jacquemotte, 2000). Yet we do not know the value they place on their fan identities, nor how they manage to negotiate being both women and fans in a sport environment that both subtly and not-so-subtly continues to reinforce the model …

Peace Under Pressure: Portraits Of Christian Leadership In College Basketball Coaches, Charles Henry Wilson Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations

NCAA Division I college basketball coaching is a high-stakes, high-reward profession. This study is based on three premises: (a) there is increasing pressure on college basketball coaches to win immediately and win consistently; (b) coaches are expected to maintain their integrity; (c) the pressure to win immediately and win consistently can influence some coaches to compromise their integrity. Given that context, the purpose of this study was to investigate and illuminate the lived experience of Christian head men’s and women’s basketball coaches at public, NCAA Division I institutions. This study was guided by two guiding research questions: (a) What is …

Examining Perceived Life Stress Factors Among Intercollegiate Athletes: A Holistic Perspective, Landon Tyler Huffman

Doctoral Dissertations

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) subscribes to the principle of intercollegiate athlete well-being (Article 2.2) which includes health and safety (Article 2.2.3). However, intercollegiate athletes, particularly those competing in arguably the most competitive level of intercollegiate athletics (i.e., NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision [FBS]), are exposed to unique stressors which may compromise their well-being. One dimension which has been received less frequent investigation in the context of athlete welfare is that of spirituality. In lieu of the unique intercollegiate athletic environment and stressors, it is critical to investigate the relationships between the spiritually-related characteristics, specifically religiosity, resiliency, and …