Self-Concept and Self-Esteem

• Self-Concept: your idea of who you are

  • Starts with “I am” sentences

  • Difficult to change

  • Physical Self-Concept: how athletes perceive their physical abilities and appearance

  • Social Self-Concept: how athletes view their interactions and relationships with teammates, coaches, and other

  • Academic/Skill-Based Self-Concept: athletes’ beliefs about their skills, knowledge, and competencies in their sport

    • Association with higher education and different sports

  • Can affect:

    • Performance: a positive self-concept can enhance confidence and motivation leading to better performance

    • Resilience: athletes with a well-rounded self-concept are better equipped to handle setbacks and stress

    • Identity: sport can be a significant part of an athlete’s identity, influencing their self-esteem and overall well-being

• Self-Esteem: layer below self-concept, internal judgment of our self-concept

• Self-Efficacy: an individual’s belief in their capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance attainments

  • Influences how people think, act, and feel

  • Dependent on situation

  • Agency and personal control are components

Self-Efficacy Theory

• A person’s self-efficacy is affected by contextual variables surrounding the task such as:

  • Abilities Possessed

    • Self-efficacy alone cannot make a person succeed

    • Must be motivated and have the abilities to succeed

  • Unique Situation

    • Ex. a person;s confidence in walking to work may be affected by traffic density

Evidence for Self-Efficacy and Physical Activity

• Strong Predictor of Exercise Behavior

  • Higher self-efficacy linked to increased physical activity

• Adherence to Exercise Programs

  • Self-efficacy is one of the strongest predictors of long-term adherence to exercise programs, those with higher self-efficacy are better at overcoming barriers

• Positive Impact on Performance

  • Self-efficacy positively affects performance in physical activity

• Role in Recovery and Rehabilitation

  • Higher self-efficacy is associated with better recovery outcomes, patients with higher levels are more likely to follow through with their programs leading to a faster recovery

• Impact of Interventions

  • Interventions aimed at increasing self-efficacy (goal setting, providing mastery experiences, offering social support) have been shown to significantly improve physical activity levels and overall fitness outcomes

• Reciprocal Relationship

  • Reciprocal relationship between self-efficacy and physical activity, engaging in regular physical activity enhances self-efficacy while improved self-efficacy further increases the likelihood of continued physical activity

• Self-efficacy is less important for milder forms of physical activity compared to more rigorous physical activity because:

  • Lower perceived difficulty

  • Fewer barriers to participation

  • Lower risk of failure

  • Less motivation needed

  • Immediate and visible results

What Does Self-Efficacy Do?

• Influence choices we make

• Effort we put in

• How long we persist with obstacles

• How we feel

Research

• Self-efficacy is consistently positively related to higher levels of sport performance and physical activity in both adult populations

• Self-efficacy has been identified as a correlate of physical activity in young people

• Self-efficacy identified as the most studied successful mediator for physical activity behavior change in young people

• Luszcynska and Tryburcy 2008

  • Can a self-efficacy intervention create changes in the frequency of exercise as well as self-efficacy beliefs of patients at 6 month

  • Self-efficacy intervention comprised of the following:

    • Information regarding why self-efficacy is important and necessary in pursuing goals for physical activity

    • Feedback regarding the participant’s self-efficacy

    • Discussion of strategies to increase self-efficacy

  • The control group received information about the importance of a healthy lifestyle including physical activity and to seek help from family and friends as needed

  • Exercise and self-efficacy went up for experimental group, only self-efficacy went up for control while exercise went down

Sources of Self-Efficacy

• Enactive Mastery: past performance accomplishments and mastery experiences

  • Believed to be most influential

  • Sample Strategies

    • Providing positive feedback on past performances or any effort or progress they have made

    • If an athlete has no past experience focus on their “successful” experiences in situations which are most similar to the current one

    • Creating mastery experiences

      • Identify a goal

      • Set a detailed plan of action (when, where, how to perform behavior)

      • Provide instruction on each of the categories and positive feedback on performance of the behavior/skills

• Vicarious Experience: observing others succeeding (or failing) could affect subsequent efficacy beliefs. Increase or decreases an individual’s belief that they too possess the capabilities

  • Sample Strategies:

    • Social comparison because it’s not always possible to gauge your own success without having some reference point

      • Self-modeling, or watching a videotape of oneself performing the desired task, increases efficacy beliefs

      • Must be very cautious with social comparison, constant social comparison with other might lead to disappointment and eventual drop out

• Verbal Persuasion

  • Persuasion from others may influence perceptions of self-efficacy

  • Thought to be less influential and even reduce self-efficacy

    • Interpretation of persuasive messages as attempts to be controlled or manipulated in the exercise domain

  • Evidence suggests it is likely to be ineffective but coupled with modeling behavior or other techniques, it might be useful

• Psychological/Physiological Arousal

  • Reducing negative emotional states and correcting misinterpretations of bodily states

  • Based on appraisal processes

  • Ex.

    • If negative affect (agitation immediately before a difficult task) is interpreted as unpreparedness or vulnerability, self-efficacy and performance might be impaired

  • It’s about knowledge and interpretation of these feelings and sensations

  • Some athletes interpret them as fear that they are not able to perform the skill

  • Others may perceive them as a sign they are ready for upcoming behavior or performance or have performed successfully

  • Sample Strategies:

    • Education on how the body will feel during and after a session

    • Biofeedback

    • Cognitive restructuring: positive interpretation of the feelings that the athlete/exercise may have

      • Ex. the nervous feelings before an exercise class or a match is re-interpreted as excitement and readiness to perform