In the field of competitive sports, the athlete's skills and physical fitness are certainly the key to winning, but the impact of psychological state cannot be ignored. Sports psychology, as a subject that studies the laws of athletes' psychological activities, reveals many psychological effects that affect sports performance. These effects can not only explain the 'extraordinary performance' or 'abnormal mistakes' on the field, but also provide scientific guidance for athletes' training and competition strategy formulation. This article will introduce the classic effects in sports psychology in detail, helping readers to fully understand the principles, applications and limitations of these effects.
Home advantage effect
What is the home advantage effect?
The home advantage effect refers to the phenomenon that athletes often perform better when playing in familiar fields (such as home stadiums) and their winning rate is significantly higher than away games. This effect is particularly evident in collective projects such as football, basketball, and baseball. It is one of the earliest and most extensive effects studied in sports psychology.
Background source
As early as the early 20th century, sports researchers discovered the phenomenon of higher winning rates at home games. In 1927, when American psychologist Coleman Griffith was studying baseball game data, he systematically proposed the concept of 'home court advantage' for the first time, pointing out that familiar environment, audience support and other factors may be the core reasons. Since then, a large number of cross-project and cross-regional studies have confirmed the universality of this effect.
Core Principle
The origin of the home field advantage effect comes from the superposition of multiple psychological and environmental factors:
- Environmental familiarity : Athletes know the home court’s venue conditions, lighting, sound effects, locker room layout, etc., which can reduce psychological tension caused by unfamiliarity in the environment and enter the competition faster.
- Audience support effect : The cheers and cheers of the home audience will bring strong positive emotions, enhance athletes' self-confidence and sense of belonging, and stimulate competition motivation.
- Psychological security : The home environment can reduce athletes' 'away anxiety', reduce worries about unknown environments, and focus psychological energy on the game itself.
- Impact of referee bias : Although referees strive for fairness, the pressure from home spectators may subconsciously affect their judgment standards, indirectly providing convenience to host athletes.
Experimental basis
In 2007, a sports research team at the University of Liverpool in the UK analyzed 100,000 matches in 10 mainstream sports around the world (including football, basketball, tennis, etc.) and found that the average home win rate was about 25% higher than away games. Among them, the home winning rate of football events is 55%, and the basketball events is more than 60%. Another experiment for football referees showed that when the home audience cheered in a simulation game, the referee's tolerance for the home team's judgment was significantly higher, and the probability of showing a yellow card was 18% lower than that of away games.
Realistic application
- Training scenario : The coach can simulate the away environment at home (such as playing noisy sound effects and setting unfamiliar visual interference) to help athletes adapt to away pressure; at the same time, strengthen the sense of ritual of home training, so that athletes can have a stronger psychological identity with the home court.
- Match strategy : When playing at home, athletes can use the audience support to quickly improve morale and take the initiative to attack at the beginning; when playing away, they can reduce the impact of environmental strangeness through pre-game venue adaptation and team psychological hints.
Critical Analysis
Home court advantage is not an absolute truth, its strength is restricted by many factors:
- Project Difference : The home field advantage of individual events (such as track and field, swimming) is weaker than that of collective events because collective events are more susceptible to audience emotions.
- Strength gap : When the strength of the two teams is huge, the home advantage may be covered up, and strong teams can still easily win even if they play away.
- The backlash of audience pressure : excessive home audience expectations may turn into psychological pressure, and some athletes will perform abnormally due to 'fear of letting down expectations' and experience special situations of 'home disadvantage'.
Self-dissipation-movement performance effect (Ego depletion in sports)
What is self-dissipation-acting effect?
Self-dissipation-acting effect refers to the phenomenon that when an athlete's psychological resources (such as willpower and concentration) are over-expendable, his or her athletic performance will decrease significantly. This effect is like a 'psychological battery' running out of power, making it difficult for the body to perform at its due level.
Background source
The self-dissipation theory was proposed by American psychologist Roy F. Baumeister in 1998 and was originally used to explain the consumption of psychological resources in humans during self-control. In 2007, sports psychologists introduced this theory into the field of sports and found that athletes' sports performance will significantly decline after experiencing long-term psychological stress and frequent self-control (such as controlling emotions and resisting temptation), thus forming a research branch of 'self-loss-movement performance effect'.
Core Principle
The core of this effect is the 'limited theory of psychological resources': people's mental resources such as willpower and concentration are limited like muscle energy. When athletes continue to control themselves during competitions or training (such as holding back fatigue and continuing to train, controlling anger), they will quickly consume psychological resources, resulting in increased errors and decreased endurance in subsequent sports performance (especially movements that require precise control or high-intensity and concentration). For example, athletes resist dissatisfaction with referee’s penalty many times during the game and may miss out on subsequent key shots due to insufficient concentration.
Experimental basis
In 2010, a research team at McMaster University in Canada conducted a classic experiment: divided athletes into two groups, one group first completed a 30-minute 'emotional suppression task' (forced not to laugh when watching funny videos), and the other group did not do the task. The two groups then conducted basketball free throw tests of the same intensity, and the results showed that the free throw shooting rate of the group who completed the emotional suppression task was 15% lower than that of the control group, and the proportion of people who reported 'feeling heavy and difficult to concentrate.' This shows that psychological resource consumption directly affects sports performance.
Realistic application
- Training arrangement : Coaches should avoid scheduling too many tasks that require high-intensity self-control during one training (such as continuous discipline training and emotional management exercises), and can interspersed relaxation activities to restore psychological resources.
- Competition response : If athletes experience psychological fatigue during the competition, they can quickly replenish their psychological energy through short and deep breathing and self-suggestion (such as 'focusing on the present'); reduce irrelevant psychological consumption before the key game (such as avoiding excessive thinking about the outcome of winning or losing).
- Daily recovery : Ensure adequate sleep, mindful meditation, etc., which will help improve psychological resource reserves and enhance anti-self-loss ability.
Critical Analysis
The impact of self-disability on sports performance is controversial:
- Individual Difference : Athletes with strong psychological resilience recover faster self-disease, while novice athletes are more susceptible to it, so the intensity of the effect varies from person to person.
- Task type : The self-loss impact on physically-driven sports such as strength and endurance is less; but the impact on projects with high accuracy requirements such as shooting and gymnastics is more significant.
- Buffering effects of positive emotions : Subsequent research found that positive self-suggestions (such as “I can do it”) or short-term pleasant experiences (such as listening to favorite music) can reduce self-loss, indicating that their impact is not irreversible.
Audience effect
What is the audience effect?
The audience effect refers to the phenomenon that athletes will change their sports performance when the audience is present. This change may be positive (better performing) or negative (better performing), depending on the athlete's skill level and task difficulty.
Background source
In 1898, American psychologist Norman Triplett discovered that when studying bicycle racing, athletes rode faster than riding alone when other riders were present, which was the earliest observation of the audience effect. In 1924, another psychologist, Floyd Allport, further confirmed through laboratory experiments (such as asking subjects to complete simple math problems): the presence of others will improve the efficiency of simple tasks, but may reduce the performance of complex tasks, and improve the theoretical framework of audience effects.
Core Principle
The core mechanisms of the audience effect are 'awakening level changes' and 'evaluation anxiety':
- Arousal level : The presence of the audience will increase the athlete's physiological arousal level (such as increased heart rate and increased adrenaline secretion). For skilled simple tasks (such as basketball dribbling), moderate awakening can improve reaction speed and movement stability, and perform better; but for complex or unskilled tasks (such as high-difficulty gymnastics for beginners), excessive awakening will lead to stiff movements and increase in errors.
- Evaluation anxiety : Athletes will worry about the audience’s evaluation of themselves, and this anxiety is stronger when facing strangers or important competitions. Confident athletes will see the audience as “support”, while athletes who lack confidence will see it as “pressure”, which will in turn affect performance.
Experimental basis
In 2015, the Australian Institute of Sports Research Team allowed swimmers of different levels to conduct 100-meter freestyle tests under three conditions: 'no audience', 'relative and friends audience' and 'unfamiliar audience'. The results show that high-level athletes have the best results under the conditions of relatives and friends (0.8 seconds faster than no audience); novice athletes have the worst results under the conditions of unfamiliar audience (1.2 seconds slower than no audience), verifying the conclusion that 'skill level and task difficulty affect the direction of the audience effect'.
Realistic application
- Skill training stage : When novices learn complex movements, they can first practice in an audience-free environment, and then gradually increase the number of audiences after proficiency, reducing evaluation anxiety.
- Competition adaptation : Before important competitions, athletes can go to the competition venue to conduct 'simulation training with the audience' to adapt to the changes in awakening levels brought by the audience.
- Audience guidance : During home games, the audience can send positive signals and strengthen the positive audience effect by organizing a group of relatives and friends, designing cheering slogans, etc.
Critical Analysis
The impact of the audience effect is not absolute:
- Audience familiarity : Friends and relatives are more likely to have positive effects, while hostile away audiences may trigger negative effects.
- Athlete traits : Extroverted and confident athletes are more likely to gain motivation from the audience, while introverted and sensitive athletes are more likely to be disturbed.
- Nature of the task : Simple movements with strong repetitiveness (such as running) are more susceptible to positive influence of the audience, while complex movements that require fine control (such as shooting) are more sensitive to audience interference.
Jansen effect
What is the Jensen effect?
The Jensen effect refers to the phenomenon that athletes who are usually well-trained and have poor performance at critical moments such as major competitions due to excessive psychological pressure. This effect was named after Jansen, a Belgian athlete in the 1960s. He broke world records many times in daily training, but failed repeatedly in major events such as the Olympics, becoming a typical case of 'critical abnormality'.
Background source
The concept of the Jensen effect was proposed by sports psychologists when analyzing athlete competition abnormalities. In the 1980s, psychologists found through research that this type of disorder is not a problem of ability, but a psychological disorder caused by 'distraction under stress' and 'self-doubt'. Since then, this effect has been widely used to explain the phenomenon of 'falling off at critical moments' in competitive sports, exams, speeches and other scenarios.
Core Principle
The essence of the Jensen effect is 'declined executive function caused by excessive psychological stress':
- Narrowing attention : In major competitions, athletes pay too much attention to distracting thoughts such as 'what to do if you lose' and 'what others think of me', which leads to shifting attention from the competition movement itself to anxiety, and they cannot accurately control their body movements.
- Reduced self-efficacy : The obsession with 'must win' will cause athletes to 'I can't do it', weaken their confidence in completing tasks, and thus affect the coordination and stability of movements.
- Physiological stress reaction : Excessive stress can lead to physical reactions such as muscle tension and shortness of breath, making the skilled movements stiff and the dilemma of 'wanting to do well but not doing it'.
Experimental basis
In 2008, a research team from the German Institute of Sports Science conducted an experiment on 20 high-level gymnasts: they were allowed to complete the same difficult movements under three conditions: 'ordinary training', 'simulation competition (no scores)' and 'major simulation competition (with referee scores + video)'. The results showed that under the 'major simulation competition' conditions, athletes' movement error rate was 32% higher than that of ordinary training, and brain wave monitoring showed a significant decrease in their prefrontal lobe (the brain area responsible for attention control), confirming the negative impact of stress on attention and movement execution.
Realistic application
- Stress management training : Improve athletes' stress resistance through progressive stress exposure training (such as gradual adaptation from low-intensity competitions to high-intensity competitions).
- Attention focus training : Practice 'focus on the details of the movement' (such as focusing on the wrist when shooting), reduce distractions, and can be improved through mindfulness meditation, concentration games, etc.
- Cognitive reconstruction : Help athletes adjust their mindset through psychological counseling, transform the idea of 'must win' into a 'focusing process', and reduce excessive anxiety about the results.
Critical Analysis
The Janssen effect is not insurmountable:
- Pre-match preparation : The more you prepare before the game (such as simulating various emergencies), the more you can reduce uncertainty in the game and reduce anxiety.
- Differences in psychological toughness : Athletes who improve psychological toughness through long-term psychological training can maintain stable performance under high pressure.
- Accumulating experience in events : The more athletes experience major competitions, the stronger their ability to adapt to pressure, and the impact of the Jensen effect will gradually weaken.
Learned helplessness effect
What is the learned helpless effect?
The learned helpless effect refers to the psychological state of 'passive acceptance and giving up trying' that athletes develop after long-term failure and are unable to change the status quo through hard work, which leads to a continuous decline in sports performance.
Background source
The concept of learned helplessness was first proposed by American psychologist Martin Seligman in 1967 through animal experiments: he found that dogs who suffered long-term electric shocks but could not escape would give up struggling even if they had the chance to escape later. In the 1970s, sports psychologists introduced this theory into the field of sports and found that athletes will also experience similar 'giving up efforts' mentality after repeated setbacks such as injuries and failures, that is, the learned helpless effect.
Core Principle
The core of this effect is “the motivational recession caused by loss of sense of control”:
- Attribution bias : After many failures, if athletes classify the reasons as uncontrollable factors such as 'insufficient ability' and 'unable to change', they will gradually believe that 'working is useless' and lose the motivation to actively try.
- Emotional exhaustion : Long-term setbacks will lead to the accumulation of negative emotions such as anxiety and depression, consume psychological energy, and make athletes lose interest in training and competition.
- Self-limiting : In order to avoid the pain of failure again, athletes will actively reduce their efforts (such as laziness in training), use 'not doing their best' to rationalize possible failures, and form a vicious cycle.
Experimental basis
In 1980, sports psychologists conducted a three-month experiment on the youth football team: divided the players into two groups, one group continued to face opponents who were far stronger than their own (repeated failure group), and the other group faced opponents with equal strength (repeated defeat group). The results showed that the training enthusiasm of the repeated failure group decreased by 40% after 3 months, the number of active attacks decreased by 55% during the game, and 80% of the players said that 'I feel that no matter how hard I work, I can't win'; the training status and performance of the alternate group of the winning and losing team did not change significantly, confirming that long-term setbacks will cause learned helplessness.
Realistic application
- Target decomposition : Decompose long-term goals into small and specific short-term goals (such as 'improving shooting accuracy by 5% this week'), allowing athletes to gain a sense of accomplishment by completing small goals and rebuild a sense of control.
- Active attribution training : guide athletes to classify failure as controllable factors such as 'incorrect methods' and 'inadequate preparation', rather than 'poor ability', and strengthen the belief that 'effort can change the results'.
- Successful experience design : appropriately arrange 'achable challenges' during training, such as allowing athletes with slightly weaker levels to compete with opponents with similar strength, accumulate successful experience, and alleviate the sense of helplessness.
Critical Analysis
Acquired helplessness is not a permanent psychological state:
- Intervention timing : Psychological intervention (such as attribution guidance, successful experience design) in the early stage of frustration is better than intervention after long-term helplessness.
- The role of social support : The encouragement and support of coaches and teammates can help athletes rebuild confidence and reduce the accumulation of helplessness.
- Individual Difference : Athletes with optimistic personality and strong motivation for achievement are more likely to get rid of learned helplessness, while athletes with pessimistic personality need longer-term psychological support.
Summarize
These classic effects in sports psychology reveal to us the deep impact of psychological factors on sports performance. From the environmental assistance of home court advantage to the energy consumption of self-dissipation, from the fluctuations in performance under the audience's attention to the Jensen effect at critical moments, to the learned helplessness after long-term setbacks, each effect contains the laws of athletes' psychological activities.
Understanding these effects can not only help athletes and coaches better cope with psychological challenges in training and competitions, but also optimize their psychological state through scientific strategies - using home court advantages to improve morale, avoid self-disease through reasonable arrangements, stimulate motivation with the audience effect, overcome the Jensen effect with psychological training, and break learned helplessness with positive experience.
Of course, these effects are not absolute 'laws', and their effects will vary depending on individual athletes, program characteristics, and environmental factors. But as long as we master its core principles and apply them flexibly in combination with reality, psychology can become the 'invisible wings' to improve sports performance, helping every athlete to perform at the best level on the field.
Continue to pay attention to the 'Complete Psychological Effects' series of articles and explore more secret weapons of psychology in depth.
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