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and their influence on performance and lifestyles


Beaumont School Sports Psychology

Its pretty obvious that....


White men cant jump

People much prefer watching male

sports. Women lack the competitive edge to be winners Black men cant swim Football is a yob sport Rugby is a gentlemen's game Girls are much better at Gym and dance than boys

Attitudes = blend of values and beliefs


An attitude that is resistance to change = prejudice A component of a prejudicial attitude = stereotyping

What is Attitude?
Combination of beliefs and feelings

about objects, people or situations (known as attitude objects) which predispose us to behave in a certain way towards them. The focus of a persons attitude is called the attitude object.

How are attitudes formed? Who influences what think (cognitive), feel (affective) and as a result the may affect the way you behave (behavioural)?

Who influences Attitudes?


region / culture media friends FORMATION of ATTITUDES past experiences peers

family

teachers

coaches
Feedback can reinforce attitude Attitudes can create false perceptions known as prejudice

Attitudes common factors...


Enduring emotional and behavioural

response Attitudes are changeable Attitudes are directed towards attitude objects i.e. People, event, situation or idea. Attitudes are generally a poor predictor or behaviour Interaction between people known as socialisation.

Components of Attitude Triadic Model


knowledge and beliefs example : fitness training keeps me fit

COGNITIVE

ATTITUDE to regular exercise

feelings and emotions example : I enjoy training

AFFECTIVE

intended behaviour example : I attend training sessions regularly

BEHAVIOURAL

Task 1:
Write down an attitude that you have associated with sport.
Break your attitude down in to the three components according to Triandis triadic model.

Who is more likely to join the rugby team...


When asked whether they would be joining the rugby team... Lauren said: Yeh I like rugby ill play this year Joel said: Yeh I like rugby, dad said it will toughen me up and keep me fit ill make training on Monday

Who is more likely to join the rugby team...


When asked whether they would be joining the rugby team... Lauren said: Yeh I like rugby ill play this
Displaying a general positive attitude towards rugby, not a true determinant of year sporting behaviour

Joel said: Yeh I like rugby, dad said it will toughen me up Has a specific attitude towards and keep me fit ill make training on Monday
rugby, has stated an actual intention to go to training. Significant other has encouraged him.

The Triadic Model


This model states that attitudes are formed through

influences on the 3 elements: 1. Our beliefs are formed through past experiences and by what we have learned from others. 2. Our emotional reactions depend on past experiences. 3. Our behaviour is not always consistent with our attitude. E.g. we may believe that exercise is good for us and may enjoy participating, but we may not exercise very much. We are, however, more likely to behave in a way that reveals our attitude.

Attitudes and Behaviour


Is it accurate to use a performers attitude to predict and therefore try to change behaviour?
As

attitudes are one of the key determinants of our behaviour they can heavily influence the way in which we behave towards different types of attitude objects. (e.g. La Pieres study, 1934), only specific attitudes predict specific behaviours.

Attitudes do not always predict behaviour

Attitudes and Behaviour


Attitudes can only be used to predict

behaviour when we measure and assess attitudes to specific aspects of our lives and whether or not there is a stated intention of behaving in a particular way.
The best indicator of behaviour is an

individuals behaviour intention. A positive attitude to something incorporates an intention to do that thing and therefore participation is more likely.

Exam question...
Use your understanding of Attitudes and the information on page 142 of you textbook to answer the question below.
Attitudes are largely developed through

experience. Identify and describe factors that form attitude. (6)

Positive and negative attitudes to Sport


POSITIVE ATTITUDES has a positive physical self-concept satisfaction from participation in sport believe sport promotes health success at sport willing to try new activities encouraged by significant others participates regularly opportunity to participate NEGATIVE ATTITUDES had negative experiences at sport have lifestyle which makes regular sport difficult find sport frustrating lack encouragement unlikely to participate in sport have a negative self concept find sport boring

Prejudice
If attitude is based on false information and is unfair,

then it becomes prejudice.


Prejudice = an extreme or strongly held attitude

(resistant to change) held prior to direct experience. Situations or people are pre-judged. In pre-judging a situation or a person we are expecting to see or experience certain types of behaviour in certain situations.
In relation to people, prejudice (extreme attitudes)

serves to develop a certain expectancy of behaviour leading to stereotyping. This can then affect our behaviour towards certain individuals or groups of people. E.g. Boys seen as having more potential in

Where is zis guy from?

Stereotyping
Stereotype
A belief held by a collection of people about traits

shared by a certain category of person is called a stereotype. Brown (1986) simply defines a stereotype as a shared conception of the character of a group. E.g. female rugby players Stereotyping
The

general inclination to place a person in categories according to some easily and quickly identifiable characteristics such as age, gender, ethnic group, nationality or occupation and then to attribute certain qualities believed to be typical to members of that category. (R. Tagiuri, 1969). NOW WRITE THIS IN YOUR OWN WORDS! BE

Stereotyping
Stereotypes are rarely accurate, yet are extremely resistant to

change.
Media influence.
Stereotyping can influences perceptions of self.

There are many common held stereotypical views in sport and

physical education: Girls are better than boys at aesthetic-type activities Boys are more competitive than girls Disabled people cannot play sport Disabled people do not enjoy competitive sport Black people are not very good at swimming Certain sports are better suited to black people than white people.

Changing Attitudes
Can attitudes be changed? If so how? Why change attitudes? Who wants to change attitudes? Our knowledge of what makes up attitudes

and their influences gives us some useful information about how we might go about changing negative attitudes into positive ones.

Changing Attitudes
It is generally believed that attitudes are

changed in relation to one of two theories (specified by Gill, 1986):


1. Persuasive communication 2. Cognitive dissonance theory.

1. Persuasion/Persuasive Communication
TASK:

Use page 143 in your text book. Draw out and make notes on the key factors of persuasive communication.

1. Persuasion/Persuasive Communication
Persuader is looking to influence the cognitive, affective and/or

behavioural components of the persons attitude. someone that exercise is fun so they participate.
The effectiveness of the persuasion depends on: The person doing the persuading

E.g. persuade

The quality of the message The characteristics of the person being persuaded (must be

capable of understanding the message).


Persuasive communication theory suggests that for an attitude to

change the person must attend to, understand, accept and retain the message (Hovland et al., 1953).

1. Persuasion/Persuasive Communication
Persuasion to change an attitude in sport works best when: The coach / teacher (person who is persuading) is perceived as: Expert (perceived as having high status or credibility) Trustworthy

and the message /information given:


is clear, relevant, believable, concise makes sense, is accurate, unambiguous (not having more than one

meaning, certain)
is appropriately balanced between: emotion and logic, pros and cons.

Summary of factors that affect success of persuasion


Peoples Perceptions of

SOURCE (who)

MESSAGE (what)

RECEIVER/OR AUDIENCE (to whom)

CONTEXT (where)

Independent variable Status Credibility Expertise Likeability, attractiveness, trustworthiness Intention motives Cultural background

Accurate (easily understood/makes sense/unambiguous) Order of argument Presentation: Confident/believable One sided message or two sides Level of emotional appeal. Appeals to fear/failure Be careful of hard sell (boomerang effect)

Level of education, must be able to understand message Individual differences, gender, intelligence, personality, self esteem Function of original attitude (why they hold present attitude) Persuadability (are they resistant to change)

Formal/informal or sporting/non sporting Level of commitment Real life or experiment Availability of facilities/resource s to support message or change

What is.
DISSONANCE ?

CONSONANCE ?

2. Cognitive Dissonance Theory (Festinger)


Festinger (1957) This theory states that all three elements involved in an

attitude (according to the triadic model) should be consistent if the attitude is to remain stable and the individual to be content.
If any elements conflict dissonance is created.

According to Festinger, if dissonance is experienced, the

person is motivated to change their beliefs, attitudes or thoughts in order to return to consonance.

2. Cognitive Dissonance Theory (Festinger)


When a performer experiences dissonance they hold

opposing ideas which cause an element of discomfort within the individual.


For example: An athlete wants to perform a high level (behavioural) but

does not want to train (affective).


To stop the dissonance one of the conflicting ideas must

be reduced or taken removed.

Changing Attitudes
TASK: DESCRIBE how a coach might change the

negative attitudes outlined in the scenarios below. Choose one scenario from 1. A group of teenage girls thinks exercise is too hard and boring. 2. A group of teenage boys only want to play matches when they attend training sessions rather than work on skill development. 3. A group of middle age office workers done take part in exercise because they claim they dont have the time, money or oppurtuntities to participate in the local area.

Strategies to change performers attitudes


Reward the success elements of performance. Reward the success elements of squad involvement. Agree targets/goals with the performer. Give the performer an appropriate role/responsibility. Use positive role models (significant others, e.g.

parents/coach) to demonstrate positive attitude. behaviour/attitude.

Give positive reinforcement of correct

Strategies to change performers attitudes


Coach/teacher/significant others/media/government body

give negative feedback/criticism/punishment of unacceptable behaviour/attitudes.

Pressure to conform applied by peer group/team. Attribute earlier failure to unstable/changeable factors. Highlight benefits, i.e. health, financial, success. Ensure training/practice is variable/enjoyable to maintain

motivation/interest. outcome goals

Highlight performance/process goals rather than just

Homework due in Thursday 16th


Answer the questions below. 1. Explain the term attitude object? 2. Do attitudes really help us predict behaviour? 3. What is dissonance? 4. Explain how an attitude can be changed by using cognitive dissonance.

Attitudes Overview

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