Don't Miss, Don't Miss, D'oh! Performance When Anxious Suffers Specifically Where Least Desired

Woodman T., Barlow M., Görgülü R.

SPORT PSYCHOLOGIST, cilt.29, sa.3, ss.213-223, 2015 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 29 Sayı: 3
  • Basım Tarihi: 2015
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1123/tsp.2014-0114
  • Dergi Adı: SPORT PSYCHOLOGIST
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.213-223
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: stress, anxiety, hockey, ironic error, darts, HEART-RATE-VARIABILITY, AVOIDANT INSTRUCTIONS, IRONIC PROCESSES, MENTAL CONTROL, ANXIETY, PERSONALITY, SUPPRESSION, NEUROTICISM, KNOWLEDGE, STRESS
  • Bursa Uludağ Üniversitesi Adresli: Hayır

Özet

We present two novel tests of Wegner's (1994) theory of ironic processes of mental control using a hockey penalty-shooting task (Study 1) and a dart throwing task (Study 2). In Study 1 we aimed to address a significant limitation of ironic effects research in a performance setting by differentiating nonironic performance error from specifically ironic performance error. When instructed not to miss in a specific direction, anxious performers did so a significantly greater number of times; importantly, there was no difference in nonironic error, which provides the first specific support for Wegner's theory in a performance setting. In Study 2, we present the first examination of the precision of ironic errors. When anxious, participants performed not only more ironically but also performed more precisely in the to-be-avoided zone than when they were not anxious. We discuss the results in the context of the importance of specific instructions in coaching environments.