Pre-competitive confidence, coping, and subjective performance in sport

The primary aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between confidence and subjective performance in addition to exploring whether coping mediated this relationship. A sample of 414 athletes completed a measure of confidence before performance. Athletes also completed a measure of copi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports 2011-10, Vol.21 (5), p.721-729
Main Authors: Levy, A. R., Nicholls, A. R., Polman, R. C. J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Adolescent
Adult
Athletes
Athletic Performance - psychology
Attitude
Competition
Competitive Behavior
Confidence
coping effectiveness
Female
Humans
imagery
Imagination
Male
Psychological Tests
self-belief
Sports - psychology
Young Adult
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Summary:The primary aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between confidence and subjective performance in addition to exploring whether coping mediated this relationship. A sample of 414 athletes completed a measure of confidence before performance. Athletes also completed a measure of coping and subjective performance after competing. Correlational findings revealed that confidence was positively and significantly associated with subjective performance. Furthermore, mediational analysis found that coping partly mediated this relationship. In particular, task‐oriented coping (i.e., mental imagery) and disengagement‐oriented coping (i.e., resignation) had positive and negative mediational effects, respectively. Additionally, athletes who employed mental imagery generally coped more effectively than those using resignation. These findings imply mental imagery has the potential not only to improve confidence, but also subsequent performance, while resignation coping may have the opposite effect. Overall, these results lend some credence to Vealey's integrated sports confidence model.
ISSN:0905-7188
1600-0838
DOI:10.1111/j.1600-0838.2009.01075.x