The Self - L3

What is self-esteem?

Personal judgements of worthiness that reflect the degree to which an individual feels positive about themselves

What is self-concept?

What we know about ourselves

What are characteristics of athletes with low self-esteem?

• They rely on present performances to determine how they feel about themselves

• Self-worth is unstable, so performance is unstable

• Success doesn’t improve self-esteem, only maintains it at the current level

• Attribute negative events internally, so they are less resilient and less consistent

• Failure has a more significant impact on future performances

• Anxiety

• Depression

• Phobias

What is the cycle related to low self-esteem?

1. Low self-esteem

2. Low self-confidence

3. Low motivation

4. Failure

5. Negative feedback

Repeat

What are characteristics of athletes with high self-esteem?

• Future performances are less effected by failures

• Maintain positive self-worth regardless of performance as they don’t believe their worth is based on success or failure

• Perform more consistently at a higher level

• Accept and value themselves as worthy and worthwhile without conditions or reservations, so they can cope with failures

• Independence

• Leadership

• Adaptability

• Resilience to stress

• Self-serving bias

What is the cycle associated with high self-esteem?

1. High self-esteem

2. High self-confidence

3. High motivation

4. Success

5. Positive feedback

Repeat

What is a healthy overall self-concept like?

One with lots of sub-domains because if one of the sub-domains turns bad, the individual has lots of other sub-domains to turn to to self-affirm

What is the risk with a self-concept based mostly on being an athlete/sport?

There are fewer opportunities to self-affirm if performances start to decrease

What is the effect of exercise on self-esteem?

SPEX researchers found that physical activity has a greater impact on physical self-domains compared to other domains. Spence et al., (2005) found that exercise results in small but significant improvements in global self-esteem

What is self-confidence?

A belief about our ability to be successful

Why is self-confidence important for athletes?

It is the factor that most consistently distinguishes highly successful athletes from less successful athletes. It was an influential factor in performances at the 1998 Winter Olympics, with 90% of high achievers reported to have high self-confidence

What is trait self-confidence?

How confident you are in your general abilities. It is stable and consistent

What is state self-confidence?

How confident you feel right now in a specific situation. It is unstable and temporary

What is self-confidence about?

Confidence about a person’s ability to:

• Execute physical skills

• Use psychological skills

• Use perceptual skills

• Learn and improve skills

• Confidence in a person’s level of physical fitness and training status

What were the 2 types of confidence that Hays et al., (2007) found in athletes?

• Belief in their ability to achieve

• Belief in their superiority over their opposition

What are the benefits of self-confidence?

• Arouses positive affect

• Facilitates concentration

• Affects goals

• Increases effort

• Affects game strategies

• Affects psychological momentum

• Affects performance

What is optimal self-confidence?

Being so convinced that you can achieve your goals that you will strive hard to do so. Confidence will not overcome incompetence, so each individual has an optimal level of self-confidence

What are the characteristics of a lack of self-confidence?

• Less effective thinkers

• More negative attitude

• Tendency to give up more easily

• Avoid more challenging situations or opportunities

• More focussed on the outcomes and consequences

What does low self-confidence lead to?

• Anxiety

• Distraction

• Indecisiveness

What are the characteristics of optimal confidence?

• More effective thinkers

• Positive attitude

• Persistence in the face of failure

• Welcome opportunities and challenges

• Focus on mastery of the task

What does high self-confidence lead to?

• Relaxed and focussed athlete

• Control of performance

What is overconfidence?

When confidence outweighs ability

What are the 2 types of overconfidence?

• Inflated confidence

• False confidence

What is inflated confidence?

The belief that you are better than you actually are. These individuals overestimate their abilities and underestimate their opponents. They are often competent and don’t adequately prepare

Whjat is false confidence?

Where a person displays confidence on the outside but fears failure on the inside. They pretend to be brash and arrogant. They prepare hard but lack competence to be successful

How do you overcome overconfidence?

• Take games seriously

• Respect opponents ad not underestimate their ability

• Work hard, give effort, skill and determination for every competition

How can success negatively influence confidence?

Past success can lead to pressures or expectations for future performance. Athletes can start to focus on weaknesses and remember failures

What is the self-fulfilling prophecy?

What you expect is what you will get

What is negative self-fulfilling?

Expecting failure, which leads to actual failure, lowering self-image and causing expectations of future failures

What is positive self-fulfilling?

Expecting the desired outcome and performance. This may not always lead to winning but performance will be good

What are the misconceptions of self-confidence?

• You either have it or you don’t

• Only positive feedback can build confidence

• Success always builds confidence

• Confidence leads to outspoken arrogance

• Mistakes inevitably destroy confidence

How can self-confidence be built?

• Performance accomplishments

• Retrospections

• Acting confident, not cocky

• Thinking confidently

• Using imagery

• Goal-setting

• Preparation

What is self-efficacy?

Perception of a person’s ability to perform a task successfully in a specific situation. It determines what people do with the knowledge that they have

What is the assumption of self-efficacy theory?

That the primary mediator of behaviour or behaviour change is self-efficacy

What are the 3 components. of self-efficacy theory?

• Self-efficacy expectancy

• Outcome expectancy

• Outcome value

What is self-efficacy expactancy?

The expectations about a person’s skills and capabilities to engage successfully in the specific target behaviour in particular situations

What is outcome expectancy?

Expectations about the outcome

What is outcome value?

The value placed on the outcome expectancies

What do these aspects need to look like for high self-efficacy?

• High self-efficacy expectancy

• High outcome expectancy

• High outcome value

How do people with high self-efficacy attribute failure?

To insufficient effort and they will be more likely to persist

How do people with low self-efficacy attribute failure?

To low ability and will be more likely to give up

What are the sources of self-efficacy?

• Performance accomplishments

• Vicarious experiences

• Verbal persuasion

• Imaginal experiences

• Physical states

• Emotional states

How do performance accomplishments influence self-efficacy?

Success raises self-efficacy expectations and failures lower them. This is the strongest source of self-efficacy

How do vicarious experiences influence self-efficacy?

Observing others succeed or fail may influence efficacy beliefs. Social comparison information can influence efficacy beliefs.

How can verbal persuasion influence self-efficacy?

It is quite a weak source of self-efficacy as it’s from an external source. It is characterised by encouragement, feedback, and reinforcement

How can imaginal experiences influence self-efficacy?

It generates beliefs about personal efficacy or lack of efficacy

How do physiological states influence self-efficacy?

If physiological states are perceived to be facilitative, self-efficacy will be enhanced whereas if physiological states are perceived to be inhibitory, self-efficacy will reduce. Athletes need to recognise and understand the effect of physiological states to evaluate if they have a positive or negative effect

How can emotional states influence self-efficacy?

Positive emotional states are more likely to enhance efficacy judgement than negative emotional states

How are self-efficacy and motivation related?

If self-efficacy is low, motivation will be low