Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology最新文献

The Model of Excellencism and Perfectionism has been proposed to differentiate the pursuit of high but realistic standards (excellencism) from the pursuit of perfectionistic standards. In a recent study, perfectionistic standards were positively linked to bottom-line mentality, moral disengagement, and tolerance toward electronic sign stealing (cheating) in professional baseball. In this follow-up study, we investigated the reactions of sports fans when the Houston Astros qualified for the 2021 World Series of Baseball 2 years after being found guilty of cheating. We found that fans of the Astros (n = 202) displayed a higher tolerance toward cheating than those of the Atlanta Braves (n = 265). Results of multiple regression (controlling for in-group vs. out-group status) showed higher tolerance toward cheating and doping in perfection strivers compared with excellence strivers. A winning-at-all-cost mentality and moral disengagement mediated the relationships between perfectionism and cheating attitudes.

Members of swimming relays often show effort gains in relays (i.e., more effort and faster swimming times in the relay vs. the individual competition). The weakest relay members typically exhibit the most pronounced effort gains. However, the underlying psychological processes are unclear. Prior research suggests social comparisons with stronger fellow relay members, perceived social indispensability, or a combination of both processes as plausible mediators. In Study 1, using linear mixed model and regression analyses on N = 239 observations from 222 elite U.S. college swimmers, we found empirical support only for the social indispensability hypothesis. Study 2, a survey among N = 46 German national team swimmers, substantiated the results, because the athletes most often mentioned processes related to social indispensability as motivating them. Our findings offer theoretical conclusions for expectancy × value models on team member effort expenditure and practical implications for coaching and selecting the weakest members for swimming relays.

The study analyzed the gaze behavior and decision-making performance of 20 soccer assistant referees while judging offside events. Specifically, gaze behaviors, gaze entropy, and estimated quiet eye (eQE; defined as the last fixation prior to the attacker's ball pass) characteristics (i.e., location, onset, offset, and duration) were analyzed in relation to decision-making accuracy. Although a significant number of fixations were observed on the offside line, the highest viewing time corresponded to the ball carrier. The gaze behavior indicated a high distribution of fixations, as evidenced by high stationary gaze entropy (>90%). The assistant referees also distinguished offside from onside positions above chance. However, they displayed nonprolonged eQE on the offside line. As a result, no significant relationships were found between the eQE characteristics and decision-making accuracy. The study concludes that the absence of more functional gaze behaviors, specifically with longer eQE focused on the offside line, impaired the decision-making accuracy of nonexpert assistant referees in soccer.

Quiet eye (QE), the visual fixation on a target before initiation of a critical action, is associated with improved performance. While QE is trainable, it is unclear whether QE can directly predict performance, which has implications for training interventions. This study predicted basketball shot outcome (make or miss) from visuomotor control variables using a decision tree classification approach. Twelve basketball athletes completed 200 shots from six on-court locations while wearing mobile eye-tracking glasses. Training and testing data sets were used for modeling eight predictors (shot location, arm extension time, and absolute and relative QE onset, offset, and duration) via standard and conditional inference decision trees and random forests. On average, the trees predicted over 66% of makes and over 50% of misses. The main predictor, relative QE duration, indicated success for durations over 18.4% (range: 14.5%-22.0%). Training to prolong QE duration beyond 18% may enhance shot success.

We investigated the role of saccades and microsaccades when different levels of basketball players were engaged in an ecological free-throw condition. All participants made more correct than incorrect shoots, with a movement time initiation shorter in amateurs than in near-expert groups. Near-experts had more stable gaze fixation than amateurs, with higher microsaccade rate and duration and lower peak velocity. Amateurs showed higher saccade rate, peak velocity, and amplitude than near-experts. The temporal sequence of near-experts' microsaccade rate increased after the saccade peak; on the contrary, in amateurs, the saccade peak is shown after the decrement in microsaccade rates. The spatiotemporal characteristics of microsaccades and saccades may reflect an optimal sampling method by which the brain discretely acquires visual information and can differentiate between participants who use a fixation before the critical movement time and participants who move their eyes to catch more visual cues to make decisions.