The influence of psychological skills on the self-efficacy perceptions of elite, pre-elite and non-elite triathletes

Type of content
Theses / Dissertations
Publisher's DOI/URI
Thesis discipline
Psychology
Degree name
Master of Arts
Publisher
University of Canterbury
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
English
Date
1992
Authors
Allardyce, Alexander Bayford
Abstract

Quantitative and qualitative measures were used to assess the psychological skills of nine Elite, six Pre-elite, and four Non-elite triathletes, as well as the benefits derived by each group from these skills. It was hypothesized that the Elite group would have more developed psychological skills and greater self-efficacy perceptions than the Pre-elite and Non-elite groups, and that psychological skills would contribute to the self-efficacy perceptions of the three groups. Results indicated that the Elite group had greater self-efficacy perceptions than the Pre-elite or Non-elite groups, but there was only partial support for the hypothesized psychological skills differences. Although the Elite group was found to have more developed psychological skills than the Non-elite group, there were few skill differences between the Elite and Pre-elite groups. Results generally supported the hypothesized relationship between psychological skills and self-efficacy. However not all skills were equally influential. Based on the similruities between the Elite and Pre-elite groups in terms of psychological skills, it was suggested that other factors might have accounted for the greater self-efficacy perceptions of the Elite group relative to the Pre-elite group. Nonetheless it was suggested that psychological skill differences might have contributed to the Elite and Pre-elite groups' greater self-efficacy perceptions relative to the Non-elite group.

Description
Citation
Keywords
Athletes--Psychology, Triathlon--Psychological aspects, Self-efficacy
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Rights
All Rights Reserved