Part 2 -
Theories of motivation
Stress: the four-stage stress process
Theories of arousal-performance relationship
Theories of aggression
People with high need for achievement often undertake tasks in which there is a high probability of success and avoid tasks that are either too easy (because of lack of challenge) or too difficult (because of fear of failure).
Need to avoid Failure (NAF)
These people tend to avoid challenges because they do not want to risk failing. They are slow workers who avoid responsibility. They do not like assessment and are easy to influence not to take part.
The aim of need achievement theory is to explain why certain individuals are more motivated to achieve than others. It is based on two psychological principles: the motive of an individual to achieve success and the motive of an individual to avoid failure.
Self-determination Theory (SDT) is a motivational theory of personality, development, and social processes that examines how social contexts and individual differences facilitate different types of motivation, especially autonomous motivation and controlled motivation, and in turn predict learning, performance
Weiner's attribution theory states that an individual's causal attributions of achievement affect subsequent behaviors and motivation.
Task orientation predicted anticipated positive affect in the outstanding performance context, but was not significant in the enjoyment context. Ego orientation predicted anticipated negative affect in the enjoyment context, but was not significant in the outstanding performance context.
Achievement goal theory holds that, when performing achievement-related tasks, individuals can fluctuate in their state of involvement directed toward task or ego goals. That is, they can be more or less task- and ego-involved at any point during task engagement.
The 'inverted U' theory proposes that sporting performance improves as arousal levels increase but that there is a threshold point. Any increase in arousal beyond the threshold point will worsen performance. At low arousal levels, performance quality is low.
If the athlete is experiencing high levels of cognitive state anxiety as arousal rises towards the athletes threshold, the athlete experiences a dramatic drop in performance. This theory does also rely on the need for both arousal and cognitive anxiety to achieve optimal performance.
Drive theory is based on the principle that organisms are born with certain psychological needs and that a negative state of tension is created when these needs are not satisfied. When a need is satisfied, drive is reduced and the organism returns to a state of homeostasis and relaxation.
Choking can occur if the athlete is outside their anxiety zone. Programs such as IZOF help identify an athlete's anxiety zone creating a balance between arousal and somatic anxiety.
Mental Stress: This form of stress is also quite common, and fairly easy to recognize. Mental Stress often presents itself in the form of memory problems, an inability to concentrate, or anxiety.
Behavioural Stress: This can be more difficult to self-diagnose. Behavioural stress is indicated by a change in your typical habits, such as food intake (eating more/less than usual), sleep patterns, isolating yourself from others or avoiding your typical responsibilities.
Physical Stress: This is often the most obvious form of stress. It might present itself in the form of headaches or other aches and pains, or you might notice an increase in your heart rate. Other common signs include getting sick more often than usual, or noticing tension throughout your entire body.
Emotional Stress: This is another tough one to diagnose. When the body is experiencing stress emotionally, it tends to prepare its “fight or flight” response, which can manifest in sneaky ways. Signs of emotional stress can include an increase in agitation or moodiness.
Multidimensional anxiety theory
Theory that predicts that an increase in cognitive state anxiety (worry) has a negative effect on performance. The theory is based on the premise that state anxiety is multidimensional with its two components (cognitive anxiety and somatic anxiety) influencing performance differently.
Reversal theory
The theory of psychological reversals, or 'reversal theory', is a relatively new theory of motivation and personality that places emphasis on the inconsistency and changeability of human behaviour and experience.
Social learning theory suggests that social behavior is learned by observing and imitating the behavior of others. Psychologist Albert Bandura developed social learning theory open_in_new as an alternative to the earlier work of fellow psychologist B.F. Skinner, known for his influence on behaviorism.
If a goal is being blocked, people often become frustrated. If we're feeling very angry at the source of that frustration, we may become aggressive. The frustration-aggression theory states that frustration often leads to aggressive behavior
The instinct theory of motivation suggests that motivation is a result of our biological instincts. It was promoted by prominent psychologists such as William McDougall and Sigmund Freud but has also faced many criticisms, such as being hard to prove with research
The theory says that aggression is the result of blocking, or frustrating, a person's efforts to attain a goal. When first formulated, the hypothesis stated that frustration always precedes aggression, and aggression is the sure consequence of frustration.
Vealey’s Multidimensional Model of Sport Confidence
sport-confidence is a multidimensional rather than a unidimensional construct, and the sport-confidence model identified three types of sport-confidence (i.e., physical skills and training, cognitive efficiency, and resilience) that are important for success in sport.
Dwecks theory of mindset (Fixed v growth)
A fixed mindset is the belief that your intelligence, talents and other abilities are set in stone. You believe that you're born with a particular set of skills and that you can't change them. If you have a fixed mindset, you will likely fear that you may not be smart or talented enough to achieve your goals .
Growth mindset is the belief that a person's intelligence and abilities can grow and improve with practice, and researchers have found that brief exercises that increase growth mindset can help keep students motivated when they face challenges, improve their grades, and even increase college graduation rates.