Self-efficacy and its relationship to selected sport psychological constructs in the prediction of performance in ironman triathlon

Abstract

Heazlewood I, Burke S. Self-efficacy and its relationship to selected sport psychological constructs in the prediction of performance in ironman triathlon. J. Hum. Sport Exerc. Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 328-350, 2011. The focus of this study was to apply this approach to an Ironman TM (3.8km swim, 180km cycle, and 42.2km run) triathlon event. The methodology utilized physiological measures (VO 2max , adiposity, height, weight), history of performance and sport psychological constructs (self-efficacy, motivation, sport confidence, cognitive and somatic anxiety) to predict total performance time and individual swim, cycle and run performance times. The results, utilizing correlation, regression and path analysis indicated that performance can be predicted more accurately when variables are assessed from a variety of Human Movement domains. The correlation analysis indicated only outcome orientations (r=0.68, p<0.001) and performance orientation (r=0.70, p<0.001) were significantly correlated with triathlon performance as compared to the non-predictive value of the CSAI-2 component of somatic anxiety, the attribution variables of internal, luck and powerful others, and history of previous performance. The path model explained a significant 44% of the variance of race performance. An investigation of the mediation of efficacy on performance in the race revealed that when direct paths were drawn from self-estimations to performance, non-significant regression weights were reported for the indirect paths to predict performance.

Back translation reliability of TEOSQ in team game, individual game and gender category

“…As shown in Table 2, when some of the items were deleted, relating to ego orientation in gender category, probably in question Q3 and Q6, the result could rise. Item Q3 and Q6 asked the athlete "I can do better than my friends" and "Others mess up, but I do not" in this case, as the female athletes are prone to be more concern about their performance when engaging in sport [28].…”

Self-efficacy in intercollegiate athletics.

“…Additionally, high intercorrelation existed between the two task specific self-efficacy scales (Heazlewood & Burke, 2011). Despite finding positive relationships of self-efficacy constructs in student-athletes, once again, neither study addressed the differences between males and females, nor did they focus on multiple sports, leaving potential research gaps.…”

“…Most recently, both Chiu (2009) and Heazlewood and Burke (2011) attempted to further sport-related self-efficacy research with their studies. Chiu's study of undergraduate students attempted to quantitatively identify influences of attitude, selfefficacy, and motivation on leisure time physical activity participation in students.…”

“…This methodological formatting was based on the Competitive State Anxiety (CSAI-2) along with the TSCI and SSCI, and the scales helped measured psychological variables with the triathletes. The relationships of the involved constructs were measured by predominately by correlation and multiple linear regression (Heazlewood & Burke, 2011).…”

“…Dozens of researchers have conducted studies on the relationship between selfefficacy and performances in various sports (Moritz et al, 2000). From baseball (Hepler & Chase, 2008) to basketball (Vealey, Hayashi, Garner-Holman, & Giacobbi, 1998) and distance running (Heazlewood & Burke, 2011;Martin & Gill, 1991), many populations have been examined to determine the precise impact self-efficacy has on sport performance and how it can be better harnessed to improve the understanding of athletes and their psyches. This area of research is significant for several reasons, but perhaps most importantly for athletes, coaches, practitioners, and others in the field to analyze how much one can accomplish with a given set of skills and how those skills can improve sport performance (Singer et al, 2001).…”