SPORT PSYCHOLOGY STUDIES
Year:2018 | Volume:7 | Issue:25 |Papers Count:12

The main goal of this study was to compare the effect of gymnastic exercises and free play on social skills and behavior problems of children aged 3-6 years. In this causal – comparative research, 200 subjects attending gymnastics and free-play classes were selected using targeted random sampling. Data was collected using preschool and kindergarten behavior scale. Descriptive statistics and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used for data analysis. The results revealed that there was not any significant different between the two groups in terms of social skills. However, the free-play group reported more behavioral problems in two subscales of self-centeredness and nervousness. These two types of exercises do not have an identical effect on alleviating the behavioral problems of children. Thus, a trainer with indirect supervision is necessary in children’ s plays to mitigate their behavioral problems.

The purpose of this study was to conduct a descriptive analysis of sport psychology and motor behavior research projects administered by the Sport Sciences Research Institute (SSRI) up to the end of 2015. The statistical population consisted of all research projects and dissertations in sport psychology and motor behavior fields. The coding checklist content validity, used to collect data, was evaluated and confirmed by five sports science professors. Results showed that the highest and the lowest number of research projects were applied and fundamental. They were also completed in 2014 and 2013, respectively. The results revealed that most of the research projects were done by male researchers and mainly directed by associate professors. Also, the highest and lowest extents of funds were allocated in 2014 and 2002, respectively. Based on measurement tools, 26 and 22 projects used questionnaires and lab instruments, respectively. Ultimately, based on the results obtained in this research, the micro and macro research programs of the SSRI can be designed and implemented.

Bullying is one of the most prevalent problems in schools, but its dimensions in physical education classes have not been addressed yet. Therefore, this study aimed to identify behavioral appearance of bullying and achieving manegement methods of bullying behavior by physical education teachers. Present study has been carried out in terms of a grounded theory by participation of 15 physical education teachers through theoretical and purposive sampling. Data collecting method has been done through semi structured in-depth interview, data analysis via data coding, Study validity through external inspector, validation by member. The findings of the study are extracted from interviews by using open and axial coding presented by Strauss and Corbin. The results show that although teachers and school principals are capable of conducting useful activities in order to prevent bullying, but schools, students and teachers can pave the way for bullying.

In the present study the software of motor performance assessment in pursuit tasks is presented with ability to calculate root mean square error as an important measure of errors to evaluate motor performance. Based on this research desired indices, the computer software was designed and developed using MATLAB, C++, C programming languages. To determine construct validity, the correlation coefficient between manual results and automatic calculated results was assessed which was equal to 1 correlation. Furthermore, subjects were asked to follow the circle, square and triangle paths of rotary pursuit device which resulted in 0/83 correlation. This software having multiple applications, benefits from the advantage to be easily used by researchers and users with different levels and has a very accurate output.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between mental toughness and sport commitment of team and individual athletes. For this purpose, 196 athletes were selected through available sampling method from team and individual sport fields. The Sport commitment (Scanlan et al., 1993) and mental toughness questionnaires (Clough et al., 2002) were completed by participants. The results of Pearson correlation showed that there was a significant relationship between mental toughness and sport commitment among athletes in both team and individual sports, and the relationship between mental toughness and sport commitment in individual sports was higher than team sports. In addition, the results of multivariate regression showed that mental toughness can significantly predicted sport commitment. Based on the findings, the results point to the importance of mental toughness in athletes sport commitment. Therefore, the athletes sport commitment can be improved through the growth of mental toughness.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between status ofliving environment and physical activity and role of mediation in psychological-social factors. The research method was correlation and it type of applied research. The sample consisted of 370 persons who used parks in the city of Ahvaz for physical activity as selected by random sampling. The research instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire with two parts addressing the living environment and psychological-social factors. The data was analyzed in PLS software. The research results showed that, in addition to a direct relationship between psychological-social factors and the living environment on physical activity, the role of mediation in psychological-social factors was observed. If the possibility of changing the living environment and related indicators such as proximity do not exist, psychological-social reinforcement through citizen awareness of the multiple benefits of physical activity and recreational activities can reduce perceived environmental barriers to physical activity.

The purpose of this study was to investigate" The effect of mindful Meditation on the mindfulness' state, flow state and performance in table tennis players. 30 subjects were selected as samples and randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The mindfulness inventory for sport, flow State Scale and sport performance tests were used to collect the data. The experience group were under the mindfulness training protocol for six weeks and two sessions weekly. The variance analysis with repeated measurements were used to compare the variables between two groups. The results show that the mindfulness state, flow state and performance, have been globally improved significantly in experimental group compared to the control group. Hence the findings show that the effect of mindful meditation on mindful state, flow state and sport performance, can therefore be used as mediator to improve sport performance along with the other psychological skills

The purpose of this study was to provide a causal model of the relationships between learners' perception of achievement goals and application of active teaching methods by physical education teachers with the mediating role of teaching emotions. In this regard, 317 physical education teachers of Isfahan province were selected by multistage cluster sampling and responded to the achievement goals, active teaching methods and teaching emotions. In the study of causal relationships between variables, path analysis and LISREL software were used. The results showed that mastery goals, through the mediation of positive and negative emotions, have indirect and positive effect on active teaching methods; while the impact of the performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals are indirect and negative. Also, the amount of variance explained by the use of active teaching methods indicates the importance of teachers' perceptions of teaching goals and emotions in using active teaching methods.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of gender and sport type on achievement motivation and fear of failure in elite athletes. Two hundred athletes competing nationally or internationally with 5-7 years of experiences, enrolled in the study based on convenience and purposive sampling method. The Sport Orientation and Appraisal Questionnaires were filled out. Data were analyzed using t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient and multivariate regression. Results showed male athletes are more competitive, while female athletes are more goal-oriented. Female and athletes in team sports experience more fear of failure compared with male and individual sports athlete. Team sport athlete have more desire of victory while individual sports athlete are more competitive and goal-oriented. Based on the results, different factors can influence achievement motivation and fear of failure. Psychological intervention is recommended especially for female and team sports athlete to promote achievement motivation and control fear of failure.

The aim of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of the school's sport association on the quality of life and self-esteem of impaired vision female students. In this research 50 female students aged 13-19 years were selected randomly and according to the age they were matching assigned to experimental and control groups randomly. The experimental group participated in three sport activities session in week for three months by joining in the school's sport association. Before the start of the sessions and at the end of the last session, both groups filled out the CooperSmith Self-Esteem Questionnaire (1967) and Quality of Life Questionnaire (Sarabandi, 1392). Covariance analysis was used and the experimental group showed better self-esteem and quality of life than control group. Therefore, joining of the school's sport association and active leisure time can enhance the self-esteem and the quality of life of female students with visual impairment.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of the mothers parenting styles with movement motivation and primary motor skills development in infants. The statistical population of this study included all mothers and their 9-11 months old sons in Khoramabad city. The results of Pearson correlation test showed that there is a significant and positive relationship between the authoritative parenting style of mothers and movement motivation, and the primary motor development of infants. Also, there was a significant and positive relationship between the permissive parenting style of mothers and movement motivation of infants. However, there wasn't a significant relationship between the authoritative parenting style of mothers and movement motivation, and primary motor development of infants. Therefore, educating and raising the awareness of mothers about proper parenting styles (such as authoritative style) can provide the context for promoting movement motivation and primary motor skills development of children.

The aim of this study was to measure spectators’ involvement levels in Iranian pro league of football within the framework of the psychological continuum model. 842 spectators from ten teams of that league were selected through stratified-random sampling, and they completed the assessment scale of Funk’ s sports involvement dimensions (2008) voluntarily. According to the involvement dimensions and within the framework of this model, the findings indicated that the lowest and highest involvement levels are respectively related to the levels of awareness (2%) and attachment (78%). The findings of confirmatory factor analysis showed that involvement multi-dimensional model is a useful tool for segmenting spectators based on their involvement levels. The results showed that most spectators are situated at the level of attachment, and the highest level in this model is one’ s loyalty, which is defined as his commitment to sport. Therefore, the event managers can achieve spectators’ loyalty by reinforcing attachment.