Psychology Commons^™

"You're Not Thriving, You're Just Trying To Survive The Environment That You're In:" Mental Performance Consultants' Narratives Of Emotional Abuse In Sport, Victoria Lynn Bradshaw

Doctoral Dissertations

Emotional abuse is defined as “a pattern of deliberate non-contact behaviors by a person with a critical relationship that has the potential to be harmful” (Stirling & Kerr, 2008, p. 178). Specifically, in the context of sport, emotional abuse is one of the more frequently occurring forms of abuse (Kavanagh, Brown & Jones, 2017; Kirby, Greaves & Hankvisky, 2000; Wilson & Kerr, 2021). Years after the termination of those emotionally abusive experiences, athletes are left to try and cope with and manage the short and long-term impacts that tend to develop as a result of repeated exposure to harmful behaviors …

A Qualitative Exploration Of Upsr, Shelby Miller

Masters Theses

Person-Centered Theory (PCT, Rogers, 1959) provides the understanding of how growth-promoting relationships facilitate holistic well-being through the provision of unconditional positive regard (UPR), genuiness, and empathy. Through coaches’ provision of UPR, athletes have reported experiencing an increase of motivation, enhanced performances, and greater trust in their coach (McHenry et al., 2022). Most intriguingly, athletes created a relationship with themselves (i.e., self-regard) that mirrored their coaches’ treatment of them (McHenry et al., 2021). While UPR has just recently been studied in the coach-athlete relationship, little to no attention has been given to the relationship an athlete has with themselves (i.e., self-regard). …

From Mission To Competition: The Experiences Of 10 Lds Missionary Student-Athletes Returning To Competition In The National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I, Matthew J. Moore, Leslee A. Fisher, Lindsey A. Miossi, Zach T. Smith, Jacob C. Jensen,

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

The purpose of the current study was to explore the experiences of LDS missionary student-athletes returning to competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (DI). Using Consensual Qualitative Research methods (CQR; Hill, 2012) including a semi-structured interview guide, 10 DI student-athletes/returned LDS missionaries were interviewed regarding their experience (i.e., mean age of 25 years; baseball, cross-country/track and field, football, and swimming). A research team with five members constructed four domains and 16 categories representing DI student-athlete/returned LDS missionary chronological identity changes during this experience: (a) the development of an LDS missionary identity; (b) challenges associated with returning …

The Desire To Train: A Motivational Profile Of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Players, Terrance Tarver

Masters Theses

Combat sports, such as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, require intense physical, mental, and emotional tasking within its training. With the degree of difficulty ingrained within the sport, as well as the performance-focused climate that this sport may be practiced within, many participants that once were intrigued by the sport may lose this interest and enjoyment if their goals are not met. This leads to much interest into what factors drive the motivation of those that continue to participate within Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The purpose of this study is to develop a motivational profile of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu players. 216 participants from …

“If I’Ve Got God On My Side, I Can Do It”: A Phenomenological Investigation Of The Lived Experiences Of Spirituality For Lds Ncaa Di Student-Athletes, Matthew J. Moore

Doctoral Dissertations

The aim of this study was to explore the lived experiences of spirituality for National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (DI) student-athletes who also identified as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). Using an existential phenomenological approach (Thomas & Pollio, 2002), nine interviews were conducted with four self-identified female and five self-identified male members of the LDS Church who were current NCAA DI athletes at the time of the study; they participated in four different DI sports (cross-country/track and field, football, soccer, and volleyball) and attended five different DI institutions. Their mean age was …

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 …

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 …

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. …

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 …

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 …

"It Starts With Having A Conversation": Lesbian Student-Athletes' Experience Of U.S. Ncaa Division I Sport, Jamie Fynes

Masters Theses

According to Griffin (1998), the U.S. NCAA Division I sport environment is not very welcoming for lesbian student-athletes because of existing negative myths and stereotypes. In addition, the experiences of both current and former lesbian collegiate athletes is an underrepresented research topic. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of 10 former U.S. NCAA Division I lesbian student-athletes using a semi-structured personal identity interview guide (Fisher, 1997) and Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) (Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997). Five domains, 19 categories, and related core ideas were found in the transcribed interviews. In Domain I: Stereotypes and …

Coaches’ Attitudes Towards Sport Psychology Services: A Study Of Ncaa Division I Head Golf Coaches, Justin Robert Smedley

Masters Theses

In this study a sample of NCAA Division I (D-I) head golf coaches (n = 84) completed a web-based survey assessing their attitudes toward sport psychology (SP) services (i.e., confidence in SP consulting, personal openness, stigma tolerance, and cultural preference), willingness to utilize SP services, previous use and perceived satisfaction with SP services, and if coaches’ attitudes predicted their willingness to utilize SP services. This study also explored participating coaches’ self-reported leadership behaviors (i.e., democratic behavior, autocratic behavior, training and instruction, social support, positive feedback, and situational consideration). Results indicated that coaches who more frequently used and perceived more …

Misunderstood: Division I African American Female Athletes’ Experiences Of Racism, Ivy Jean Pierce

Masters Theses

Anshel (1990) examined the feelings and perceptions of African American intercollegiate football players about racial issues and the implications they had for the field of sport psychology. However, the experiences of African American female athletes have not been explored. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to examine how African American Division I female athletes experience racism. A second purpose of this thesis was to assist coaches and sport psychology consultants in understanding African American Division I female athletes so they can help them reach their full personal and performance potential. A semi-structured interview guide was developed using a …