He Dies, He Scores: Evidence That Reminders of Death Motivate Improved Performance in Basketball

This research applied insights from terror management theory (TMT; Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986) to the world of sport. According to TMT, self-esteem buffers against the potential for death anxiety. Because sport allows people to attain self-esteem, reminders of death may improve perf...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of sport & exercise psychology 2016-10, Vol.38 (5), p.470-480
Main Authors: Zestcott, Colin A, Lifshin, Uri, Helm, Peter, Greenberg, Jeff
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anxiety - psychology
Athletes
Athletic Performance - psychology
Attitude to Death
Basketball - psychology
Human performance
Humans
Male
Management theory
Motivation
Psychological Theory
Self Concept
Self esteem
Young Adult
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Summary:This research applied insights from terror management theory (TMT; Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986) to the world of sport. According to TMT, self-esteem buffers against the potential for death anxiety. Because sport allows people to attain self-esteem, reminders of death may improve performance in sport. In Study 1, a mortality salience induction led to improved performance in a "one-on-one" basketball game. In Study 2, a subtle death prime led to higher scores on a basketball shooting task, which was associated with increased task-related self-esteem. These results may promote our understanding of sport and provide a novel potential way to improve athletic performance.
ISSN:0895-2779
1543-2904
DOI:10.1123/jsep.2016-0025