The Effects of Sports on Individual Cognition, Motivation and Mental Health
A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Psychology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 5 June 2024 | Viewed by 5438
Special Issue Editor
Interests: motivation towards physical-sports practice; pedagogical intervention in physical education; women and general wellbeing through regular practice of PE and a healthy lifestyle; eating disorders and general well-being; protocols of strength training
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Emotions mediate responses in various cognitive processes, in memory processes, conflict resolution, assessment of situations for decision-making, fine-tuned information processing, etc. [1–3]. In order to learn to regulate and navigate emotions in relation to thoughts and actions, cognitive control processes (i.e., inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility and planning) enable an adaptive response to specific goals or tasks [4–5]. Positive stimuli appear to improve performance on tasks that assess inhibitory control and mental flexibility [6–7]. This evidence is supported by Fredrickson's Expansion and Construction Theory, which maintains that positive emotions enhance people's thinking and action systems, which is related to a greater attention span, better creative problem solving, as well as improved cognitive flexibility[8]. In this integration of emotional and cognitive processes, positive emotions are associated with more open, global and flexible cognitive processing and the ability to integrate information from the environment [9]. In turn, regular physical exercise has reported numerous evidences of its physical, cognitive and mental health effects. Authors like Fox makes more than two decades ago that concluded that physical activity is a "healthy tool" to increase the quality of life at the psychological level. Manifesting through the improvement of mood, emotionality, psychological well-being, among other benefits at the psychological level. In this sense, research paradigm as psychology biopsychology biopsychology and positive psychology (between the study is found emotional intelligence, IE). Thus, an intelligent use of emotions is essential for one's own physical and psychological adaptation to the social context. However, it is essential to provide further descriptive, explanatory and exploratory scientific evidence on the causal relationship of the effects of sport on individual cognition, motivation and mental health.
Reference
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- Pekrun, R.; Frenzel, A.C.; Goetz, T.; & Perry, R.P. The Control-Value Theory of Achievement Emotions. P. A. Schutz & R. Pekrun. Emotion in Education, Elsevier: Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2007; pp. 13–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012372545-5/50003-4.
- Ruetti, E.; Segretin, M.S.; Ramírez, V.A.; & Lipina, S.J. Role of Emotional Appraisal in Episodic Memory in a Sample of Argentinean Preschoolers. Stud. in Psychol. 2019, 10, 2556. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02556.
- Medaglia, J.D. Clarifying cognitive control and the controllable connectome. WIREs Cogn. Sci. 2019, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1471.
- Palenciano, A.F.; Díaz-Gutiérrez, P.; González-García, C.; & Ruz, M. Neural mechanisms of cognitive control/Mecanismos neurales de control cognitivo. Stud. in Psychol. 2017, 38, 311–337. https://doi.org/10.1080/02109395.2017.1305060.
- Liu, X.; Yang, Y.; Jiang, S.; & Li, J. The facilitating effect of positive emotions during an emotional Stroop task. NeuroReport. 2018, 29, 883–888. https://doi.org/10.1097/WNR.0000000000001048.
- Zhu, Z.; Xu, W.; & Xue, S. Cognitive Mechanism of Emotional Validity Influencing Conflict Control. J. of Psychother. Pract. and Res. 2019, 1, 22–30. https://doi.org/10.14302/issn.2574-612X.ijpr-18-2460.
- Fredrickson, B.L. The broaden–and–build theory of positive emotions. Trans. of the R. Soc. of Lond. Ser. B: Biol. Sci. 2004, 359, 1367–1377. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2004.1512.
- Vecina Jiménez, M.L. Emociones positivas. Del Psicólogo. 2006, 27, 9–17. https://pesquisa.bvsalud.org/portal/resource/pt/ibc-043866.
Prof. Dr. Noelia Belando-Pedreño
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- sports
- cognition
- motivation
- mental health
- physical activity
- exercise
- emotions
- cognitive flexibility
- quality of life
Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Title: Basic psychological needs in the face of vulnerability. A study in a Spanish sample of young athletes
Authors: Triguero, M.1, Gómez-López, M.2, Manzano-Sánchez, D.3, González-Hernández, J.1
Affiliation: 1 Department of Personality, Evaluation and Psychological Treatment, Faculty of Psychology, University of Granada, C/ Beiro, s/n, 18011, (Granada, Spain).
2 Department of Physical Activity and Sport. Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Murcia, C/ Argentina, s/n, 30720, (Murcia, Spain)
3 ACAFYDE Research Group, Faculty of Psychology and Education, University of Extremadura, Av. De Elvas S/N, 06006, (Badajoz, Spain)
Abstract: The present study aims to investigate the protective value of the perception of the satisfaction of basic psychological needs against the vulnerability that perfectionism (both of internal and external origin) generates in the appearance of reactivity linked to fear of failure. For this purpose, a cross-sectional, relational and semi-randomized research was designed, applying questionnaires adapted to both the competitive sports context and the Spanish language in a sample of young Spanish athletes (N = 372; Mage = 16.23; SD = 2.47). The results showed that as the age of the participants increased, the indicators of perfectionism and fear of failure decreased, with no gender differences. The perception of the coach's pressure was shown to be the most significant dimension in terms of reactivity to fear of failure (mainly in the devaluation of oneself and the fear of failing important people), while the satisfaction of autonomy and relationship needs were the most significant variables in terms of protection against negative effects, source of vulnerability and maladaptive processes in the young athlete. The conclusions offer the opportunity to investigate those aspects that facilitate the emergence of fear of failure in young athletes, mainly by the performance of coaches for the emergence of patterns towards the pursuit of perfection.
Key words: perfectionism, fear of failure, basic psychological needs, young athletes.