|
Page 1 of 3  This case study investigated relationships between personality, mood states changes, coping strategies, self-set goals, and self-efficacy in an elite Judo player. A transactional perspective of psychological responses over time was used to guide data analysis. ABSTRACT
This case study investigated relationships between personality, mood states changes, coping strategies, self-set goals, and self-efficacy in an elite judo player. A transactional perspective of psychological responses over time was used to guide data analysis. The ambient mood is proposed to contribute to the interpretation of, and reaction to, events during competition, which lead to subsequent emotional responses. A male international Judo player completed a number of self-report measures before and during a 4-contest tournament. Measures included the EPQ, MCOPE, Brunel Mood Scale, self-set goals, and self-efficacy for goal attainment. State measures were completed after every contest. Results indicated high scores of self-efficacy to achieve performance goals and outcome goals. Pre-competition mood results indicated high scores on the Vigor and Anger subscales with moderate scores for Tension, and zero scores for Depressed mood, a mood profile that remained relatively stable after winning his first two contests. After losing his third contest, he reported symptoms of Depressed mood and indicated using self-blame as coping strategy during the contest. Before the fourth contest, he coped by using planning and increasing effort. These coping strategies were associated with reductions in Depressed mood and increases in Vigor. After finding out his next contest was against a former World Championship bronze medalist, self-set goals became performance and process with no outcome goal. On losing this contest, scores on the Anger and Depression subscales increased sharply, Fatigue scores increased slightly and Tension and Vigor reduced. Self-blame was used as a coping strategy when experiencing unpleasant emotions. Findings suggest that self-blame was associated with negative psychological states comprising depressed mood. Increasing effort and planning were associated with positive psychological states. Collectively, findings emphasize the value of using a transactional design to explore mood changes over time, and future research should investigate the effectiveness of applied interventions.
INTRODUCTION
Mood profiling is an assessment method frequently used by sport psychologists in their work with athletes (Terry, 1995). A recent meta-analysis of mood research indicates that scores on the Profile of Mood States (POMS: McNair et al., 1971) relate with performance (Beedie et al., 2000). Scores on the POMS (or derivates) have been particularly predictive of performance in individual combat sports such as karate (Terry and Slade, 1995), kickboxing (Lane et al., 1999) and judo (Farrant and Lane, 2002).
Given the link between theory and practice, it is important for researchers to attempt to provide definitions of the construct they assess. Recent research has proposed a definition of mood for use in sport. Lane and Terry, 2000 defined mood as "a set of feelings, ephemeral in nature, varying in intensity and duration, and usually involving more than one emotion" (p. 16). A limitation of this definition is that it mood and emotion are defined by each other and Jones, 2003 argued that researchers and practitioners should try to distinguish between them.
In recognition of the limitation of their definition of mood, Lane et al., 2005 suggested the following two definitions arguably best capture the nature of emotion and mood in the literature. Lazarus (1984) offered the following definition of emotion as "an organized psychophysiological reaction to ongoing relationships with the environment…what mediates emotions psychologically is an evaluation, referred to as an appraisal, of the personal significance for the well-being that a person attributes to this relationship (…relational meaning), and the process" (p. 230). Parkinson et al., 1996 proposed that "mood reflects changing non-specific psychological dispositions to evaluate, interpret, and act on past, current, or future concerns in certain patterned ways" (p.216).
Lane and Terry, 2000 highlighted difficulties in distinguishing mood from emotion using the POMS or other single-item adjective check list as they only assess the intensity of the response. As it is possible to experience low intense emotions and high intense mood states, intensity is arguably a difficult criterion to use. Lane et al., 2004 suggested that in a research design that attempts to assess transactional relationships between mood states, interpretation of situational variables and subsequent responses, it is possible to infer that scores on the POMS reflect emotion when describing an affective state that occurs as a direct consequence of a specific factor. Therefore, scores on the POMS assessed immediately after competition are likely to reflect experiences during competition, and therefore could be labeled emotion. By contrast, scores on the POMS assessed away from competition are likely to assess mood. However, as single-adjective checklists provide no contextual information such inferences are only speculative.
Despite the volume of research linking pre-competition mood with performance, few studies have explored changes in responses to the POMS over time. Mood state changes are proposed to be transactional in nature, in which the mood states at one point in time will influence the interpretation of situational factors, which combine with emotional responses to form the subsequent mood states (Lane and Terry, 2000; Parkinson et al., 1996). Research has demonstrated that transitory mood states are related to stable personality traits (Rusting, 1998, 1999). The assessment of relationships between personality and mood states during competition could cast light on the utility of using personality trait questionnaires as methods of identifying athletes at risk of developing mood states associated with poor performance. Therefore, research to explore transactional changes over time in response to situational and personal factors represents a worthwhile line of enquiry.
In the present study, a transactional model of mood state changes over time was developed. The transactional model for investigating mood changes over time (see Figure 1) suggests that stable personality traits (extraversion, neuroticism, self-esteem, coping disposition) predispose certain transient moods and performance-related cognitions (performance goals, self-efficacy of goal attainment, and intended effort), which combine to influence the appraisal of person-environment interactions.
The aim of this study was to investigate changes in affective states during a judo competition. A case study approach was used to facilitate detailed assessment of idiographic changes and allow examination of the extent which individual data are consistent with theoretical predictions.
|
|
|
Fitness and Nutrition 
(0 vote)
