Psychology and Sports
This domain tests personality theory, motivation, anxiety and arousal, aggression and the psychological benefits of exercise - with the inverted-U model as the most examined idea.
Personality
Trait theories (Allport's cardinal, central and secondary traits; Cattell's sixteen factors; Eysenck's extraversion and neuroticism) see personality as stable. Psychodynamic theory (Freud) stresses unconscious conflict; humanistic theory (Maslow, Rogers) stresses self-actualisation. Type A people are competitive and time-urgent, Type B relaxed. Introverts tend toward individual sports, extroverts toward team and high-stimulation sports.
Motivation
Intrinsic motivation comes from enjoyment and mastery; extrinsic from medals, money and praise. Achievement motivation is the drive to seek success and avoid failure. Overused extrinsic rewards can undermine intrinsic interest.
Anxiety and arousal
Trait anxiety is a stable disposition; state anxiety is the temporary reaction to a situation. Cognitive anxiety is worry, somatic anxiety the bodily response. The inverted-U hypothesis (Yerkes-Dodson) says performance peaks at moderate arousal and drops at very low or very high arousal, with the optimum depending on task complexity.
Worked example
A shooter misses because of shaking hands and racing thoughts. That is high somatic and cognitive state anxiety, above the optimum for a fine-motor task. The fix is to lower arousal - breathing control, progressive muscle relaxation, a pre-shot routine, simpler cues - not to raise motivation by shouting.
Traps that cost marks
- Reversing state and trait anxiety.
- Describing drive theory as the inverted U; drive theory is linear.
- Classifying hostile aggression (intent to harm) as instrumental aggression (harm as a by-product).