The+Psychology+of+Success+in+Sports+(Adam+Giurlando)

Adam Giurlando Final RP Mr. Barra Period 8 The Psychology of Success in Sports

Throughout most of modern history man has enjoyed sport. From discus throws in Ancient Rome to tackles on modern football fields, athletes of all eras sought to better themselves in what would normally be seen as an arbitrary activity with no purpose if taken out of context. Without their normal connotations sports like football are just one group of people trying to move an inflated rubber ball into an area, and another group of men is trying to stop them. Yet athletes devote huge amounts of time and effort to succeeding at these seemingly arbitrary activities. If there is not a practical reason for this devotion, there is certainly a psychological one. Psychology offers many sometimes conflicting theories on why we are motivated in seemingly meaningless activities like sports. The largest of these two theories are those of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is a need to succeed or perform that “comes from within the subject”(Myers). These can be factors such as a drive to appear desirable to a potential mate or an intrinsic desire to solve a problem. These intrinsic desires are not tangible, but they are often more effective in driving the athlete than more tangible rewards because the desire by nature comes from within the athlete, not from an outside and therefore “less powerful” force (teachpe.com). The con to relying on intrinsic motivation is that it is very difficult to increase. It is often said that you “can’t coach desire” or the “will to win” and this is backed up by psychology (Underwood). A person’s level of self motivation stays generally static through their life barring a “major life changing event” according to psychologists which is why many athletes who would like to succeed still don’t put in extra work or training (Barraclough) On the opposite side of intrinsic motivation is extrinsic motivation. This is motivation that is learned “by experience from an outside source” and is not a motivator in those not conditioned to it. A prime example of this would be money. No athlete is born even knowing the concept of money and as such they must be conditioned to the value of money before they begin to desire it. However, if they are rewarded for their success in a sport with money, trophies, or other tangible rewards they then become conditioned to be motivated by them as well. This can have two effects. The first possible effect is that the player becomes conditioned to be motivated only by these tangible rewards. If this is the case they have been shown to be “self admittedly far less motivated” than players who describe themselves as having a “strong internal drive” (Taylor). The other “far less common” effect is that the athlete is conditioned not to the tangible rewards, but the feeling of success they get from winning the tangible rewards (Myers). This conditioning functions as a form of pseudo intrinsic motivation as the athlete perceives value in the feeling of success they have developed, not the tangible rewards. They seek to become as prolific as possible and known for their skill. They also subscribe to the idea that “heroes are forgotten, but legends never die” and put more stock in their overall skill than any individual act their skill allowed them to perform (Sandlot). Changing gears from the individualistic aspects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, there is also evidence suggesting that a group or mob mentality also plays a role in motivation to succeed at sports. This is evidenced by the actions players will often take in support of teammates who they may not even like outside of the game. It is not uncommon to see violence on the behalf of a teammate because of a real or imagined slight. The act of arbitrarily separating two groups by different jerseys creates two “mob mentalities” and as a part of these mentalities players do not think just for themselves. They succeed or fail based on the group as a whole, so they “base their feelings and actions” on those of the group as well (Myers). This is why one bad foul can cause a game to violently spiral out of control as each mob mentality seeks to retaliate against the other for a recent injury to one of its members. This mob mentality can actually reach one of the first stages of genocide where one group with an “us or them” mentality “dehumanizes” the other group or “them” (Myers). This of course never carries over into more serious stages, but the fact that this level of group mentality is reached through simply being challenged by another team shows just how deep this mob mentality can go. Combining both the individualistic and the group mentalities of the previously mentioned theories of motivation in sports, there is another involving evolutionary needs. This evolutionary perspective states that the desire to succeed in sports is geared towards attributes which “benefits the species as a whole” (Myers). Before there wa civilised society disputes were settled and mates were chosen based on who the strongest of the species were. That is no longer the case but the evolutionary desire to prove our worth or our power is still there in our subconscious. Playing a sport allows for a “socially acceptable outlet” for these desires (Myers). For the duration of the competition, especially in contact sports, athletes may ignore the bonds of society and let violence and adrenaline dictate their actions. All that matters is the score and the “internal wars” that players win and lose over the course of the “battle” (Gely). There are several more fringe theories on sports motivation, but there isn’t enough merit or evidence to them to warrant a serious discussion. The various valid theories sometimes support and sometimes contradict each other but the true reasoning behind this motivation is probably a combination of them all. We may never know exactly what combination of motivations causes someone to risk bodily injury to put an inflated rubber ball in a net while others risk the same injury to stop them. As is evidenced by all of these different theories sports mean different things to everyone who plays them. Some have something to prove, some are in it for fortune and fame. Others do it because they love the game, and others simply have an inexplicable drive to compete. No one reason is more valid than the others, so a conclusive test of what motivates all athletes can never be done and no theory can be proved right. Works Cited "Extrinsic vs Intrinsic Motivation." - The Sport In Mind – Sport Psychology. Web. 19 June 2014. . Harper, H. "The Poets' Corner: Sports Poems." The Poets' Corner: Sports Poems. The Poet's Corner. Web. 19 June 2014. . "Motivation." Sports Psychology -. Web. 19 June 2014. . Myers, David G., Richard O. Straub, and Thomas Ludwig. Psychology. New York: Worth, 2007. Print. The Sandlot. Dir. Davd M. Evans. Perf. Tom Guiry and Mike VItar. 1993. Youtube. Taylor, Jim. "Sports: What Motivates Athletes?" Psychology Today: Health, Help, Happiness + Find a Therapist. Psychology Today. Web. 16 June 2014. . Underwood, Melissa. "Poetry Archive: Poems about Athletes and Sports." Poetry Archive: Poems about Athletes and Sports. Web. 19 June 2014. .