The Effect of Navigation Demand on Decision Making in a Dynamic, Sport-Inspired Virtual Environment

Athletes commonly make decisions about the passability of closing gaps when navigating sport environments. This study examined whether increased temporal pressure to arrive at a desired location modifies these decisions. Thirty participants navigated toward a waypoint in a virtual, sport-inspired environment. To do so, they had to decide whether they could pass through closing gaps of virtual humans (and take the shortest route) or steer around them (and take a longer route). The decision boundary of participants who were time pressured to arrive at a waypoint was biased toward end gaps of smaller sizes and was less reliably defined, resulting in a higher number of collisions. Effects of temporal pressure were minimized with experience in the experimental task. Results indicate that temporal pressure affects perceptual–motor processes supporting information pickup and shapes the information–action coupling that drives compliance with navigation demands. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Pleasant Emotions Widen Thought–Action Repertoires, Develop Long-Term Resources, and Improve Reaction Time Performance: A Multistudy Examination of the Broaden-and-Build Theory Among Athletes

The authors investigated relationships between emotions, coping, and resilience across two studies. In Study 1a, 319 athletes completed dispositional questionnaires relating to the aforementioned constructs. In Study 1b, 126 athletes from Study 1a repeated the same questionnaires 6 months later. In Study 2, 21 athletes were randomly allocated to an emotional (e.g., pleasant or unpleasant emotions) or control group and undertook a laboratory-based reaction-time task across three time points. Questionnaires and salivary cortisol samples were collected before and after each performance with imagery-based emotional manipulations engendered during the second testing session. Partial longitudinal evidence of the broaden-and-build effects of pleasant emotions was found. Pleasant emotions may undo lingering cognitive resource losses incurred from previous unpleasant emotional experiences. In Study 2, pleasant and unpleasant emotions had an immediate and sustained psychophysiological and performance impact. Taken together, this research supports the application of broaden-and-build theory in framing emotional interventions for athletes.

Using Critical Incident Technique to Investigate Anxiety in Physical Activity Settings

Physical activity participation is linked with many benefits including a reduction in anxiety; it is, however, also important to explore aspects of activity that incite anxiety. One way to investigate sources of anxiety in physical activity is to use the critical incident technique (CIT). The purpose of this study was to explore anxiety-inducing events in physical activity settings and to evaluate the impact on future behavior. A total of 122 participants (M = 21.23 ± 1.77 years) completed an online survey asking when a physical activity setting incited anxiety using the CIT. Four common sources of anxiety were evident in the responses: fragile self-beliefs, social interaction and the threat of negative social evaluation, competition, and a lack of knowledge or unfamiliarity with surroundings. Tenets from achievement goal theory can help to explain the incitement of anxiety and can help shape physical activity settings to be more inclusive and welcoming for all.

Development and Validation of the Diet-Related Beliefs of Exercisers Scale

Many exercise-based weight-loss interventions result in considerably less weight loss than predicted. One possible explanation could be that people have certain beliefs about the interplay of exercise and food that also influence their eating behavior, such as the belief that food is a reward for exercise. The current research outlines a systematic multiphase process to develop a psychometrically sound scale to assess these beliefs. In Study 1, regular exercisers (N = 520) completed an exploratory questionnaire on their beliefs related to diet and exercise. In Study 2 (N = 380), the factor structure of the newly developed scale was corroborated by confirmatory factor analysis. In addition, a test–retest (N = 166) was used to confirm reliability and stability. In sum, the Diet-Related Beliefs of Exercisers Scale with its four subscales (“Refrain from Eating,” “Food as Reward,” “Healthy Eating,” and “Nutritional Replenishment”) represents a valid and reliable measure of exercisers’ diet-related beliefs.

The Impact of Video Speed on the Estimation of Time Duration in Sport

The authors investigated the impact of video speed on judging the duration of sport performance. In three experiments, they investigated whether the speed of video presentation (slow motion vs. real time) has an influence on the accuracy of time estimation of sporting activities (n1 = 103; n2 = 100; n3 = 106). In all three studies, the time estimation was more accurate in real time than in slow motion, in which time was overestimated. In two studies, the authors initially investigated whether actions in slow motion are perceived to last longer because the distance they cycled or ran is perceived to be longer (n4 = 92; n5 = 106). The results support the hypothesis that the duration of sporting activities is estimated more accurately when they are presented in real time than in slow motion. Sporting officials’ judgments that require accurate time estimation may thus be biased when based on slow-motion displays.

Application of the Multi-Process Action Control Model to Predict Physical Activity During Late Adolescence

The aim of this study was to apply the Multi-Process Action Control model to examine how the additions of regulatory and reflexive processes predict physical activity (PA) behaviors among adolescents. Our sample included 1,176 Grade 11 students (Mage = 15.85 ± 0.38) recruited from a large school board in Southern Ontario. Participants completed a questionnaire including measures of self-reported PA and PA cognitions derived from the Multi-Process Action Control model. Results found the reflective process explaining 16.5% of the variance in PA, with the additions of regulatory and reflexive processes significantly improving the explained variance by 5.1% and 8.2%, respectively. Final models revealed coping planning (estimate = 45.10, p = .047), identity (estimate = 55.82, p < .001), and habit (estimate = 64.07, p < .001) as significant predictors of PA. Findings reinforce the need for integrative models to better understand PA, with coping planning, habit formation, and development of an active identity to be salient targets for intervention during adolescence.

“Know That You’re Not Just Settling”: Exploring Women Athletes’ Self-Compassion, Sport Performance Perceptions, and Well-Being Around Important Competitive Events

Self-compassion, an adaptive self-attitude, is a resource that women athletes use during emotionally difficult times and as a way to reach their potential. The relationship between self-compassion and sport performance, however, is complex. The role and experience of self-compassion within perceived important competitive events are important to explore, as athletes face unique pressures and stressors in these meaningful sport experiences. This collective case study describes women athletes’ self-compassion, sport performance perceptions, and well-being around a self-identified important competitive event. Competitive women athletes (N = 9) participated in two one-on-one interviews, before and after their important competitive event. Results from the holistic, functional, and thematic analyses are represented by holistic case descriptions and an overarching theme, Continuing to Excel in Sport, and subthemes, Reframing Criticism and A Determined Approach. In important competitive events, women athletes utilize self-compassion to promote performance perceptions and well-being when preparing, competing, and reflecting to excel in sport.

The Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Exercise Overvaluation Scale

While regular exercise is associated with a number of physical and mental health benefits, basing one’s self-esteem largely on exercise is likely associated with negative outcomes. In the present studies, the authors developed a novel measure of this construct, something they term “exercise overvaluation.” In Study 1, 820 participants completed an online survey measuring self-esteem, exercise attitudes and behaviors, and eating disorder symptoms. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were employed to develop the 14-item Exercise Overvaluation Scale. The results provided evidence of discriminant and convergent validity and internal consistency reliability of scale scores. In Study 2, the Exercise Overvaluation Scale was administered to 134 university athletes, including those who participated in intramural sports, club sports, and collegiate athletics. The results from Study 2 supported the criterion validity and test–retest reliability of scale scores. This scale offers researchers a new tool to help understand the relationships among exercise, self-esteem, and physical and mental health outcomes.

A Temporal Study on Coach Behavior Profiles: Relationships With Athletes Coping and Affects Within Sport Competition

The study aimed to identify coach behavior profiles and explore whether athletes from distinct profiles significantly differed on coping and affects experienced within 2 hr before the competition and during the competition (measuring them 2 hr after the competition). A sample of 306 French athletes (Mage = 22.24; SD = 4.91; 194 men and 112 women) participated in the study. The results revealed the emergence of two profiles: (a) a coaching engaged profile that stands out for moderate physical training and planning, technical skills, mental preparation, goal setting, competition strategies, personal rapport, and moderate negative personal rapport; and (b) a less engaged coaching profile with low physical training and planning, technical skills, mental preparation, goal setting, competition strategies, personal rapport, and moderate negative personal rapport. Memberships of coach behavior profiles were not confounded by athletes’ practice experience, athlete’s gender, and coach experience. Results of latent profile analyses with Bose–Chaudhuri–Hocquenghem method (BCH) method revealed that coping and affective states significantly differed across the coach behavior profiles. As a whole, the less engaged coaching profile engenders the worst outcomes in competition. In conclusion, the detection of less adaptive coaching profiles would be crucial to prevent negative outcomes in athletes during the competition. This might be using intervention programs adapted to the peculiarities of athletes from a particular coach behavior profiles.