Sport Psychology

Sport Psychology is an introductory account of the major psychological issues in sport today. Major theories and up-to-date research are covered in the areas of personality, attitudes to sport, aggression in sport, anxiety and stress, social influences, motivation, and skill acquisition. A wide variety of sporting examples are used, ranging from football to ballet.

Matt Jarvis is Senior Teaching Psychologist at Totton College and Totton Sports Academy.

Part 1: Introduction to Sport Psychology. What is Sport Psychology? A Brief History of Sport Psychology. What is a Sport Psychologist? Part 2: Personality and Sport. Introduction. Trait Theories. Other Measurable Personality Variables. Applying Trait and Narrow-band Theories to Sport. Situational and Interactional Approaches. Applying the Interactional Model to Sport. Social Learning Theory. Applying Social Learning Theory to Sport. Summary. Part 3: Attitudes to Sport. The Nature of Attitudes. Measuring Attitudes. The Formation of Attitudes to Sport. Attitudes to Sport and Sporting Behaviour. Changing People's Attitudes to Sport. Summary. Part 4: Aggression in Sport. Defining Aggression. Theories of Aggression. Situational Facts Affecting Aggression in Sport. The $64,000 Question: Does Sport Increase or Reduce Aggression? The Reduction of Aggression. Summary. Part 5: Arousal, Anxiety and Stress. Definitions of Arousal, Anxiety and Stress. Factors inducing Anxiety and Stress. The Relationship between Arousal and Performance. The Relationship between Anxiety and Performance. Stress Management. Part 6: Social Influences on Sporting Behaviour. Sources of Social Influence. Groups and Teams. Social Facilitation. Leadership. Summary. Part 7: Motivation and Sport. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation. Humanistic Perspectiveson Motivation. Achievement-motivation. Cognitive Approaches to Motivation. Contemporary Research on Motives for Sports Participation. Summary. Part 8: Skill Acquisition. Skills and Abilities. Classifying Skills. Stages of Skill Acquisition. The Information-processing Approach to Skills. Memory. Enhancing Skill Acquisition. Summary. Part 9: Study Aids. Improving your Essay-writing Skills. Key Research Summary. Glossary. Bibliography. Index.