Sport psychology practice in Africa: Do culture-specific religion and spirituality matter?

Abstract

Religious and spiritual observances have been found in sport across parts of the world, notably in South and North America, Oceania and Sub-Saharan Africa. This is attributed to the indigenes' strong religious and /or spiritual belief in the sacred (God or Allah, a supreme deity, and/ or ancestors), who presumably, can turn the course of any life event in ones favour. To date, the potential connections between religion or spirituality and sport from research and applied consultancy perspectives remain uncharted. This conceptual submission reveals a distinction between religion and spirituality based on evidence from religious studies as well as how these could influence cognitivebehavioural practices in sport. These two phenomenological constructs have been shown to provide individuals with psychological resilience in the face of life adversities (e.g., coping) as well as offer other psychological support aimed at athletes' optimal functioning, performance enhancement and general well-being. To exemplify their manifestation, some peculiar and unique religious and spiritual practices reminiscent of a typical socio-cultural African context are highlighted. We suggest the use of new perspectives such as the athlete-centered and the RRICC models through different approaches (e.g., reflective practice) to facilitate their integration in sport. Future researchers should target the empirical and functional effects of these indigenous religious and spiritual practices through applied work on sport performance related constructs (e.g., flow and peak experiences, counseling interventions) in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Investigating Pre-Competition-Related Discrete Emotions and Unaccustomed Religious Coping among Elite Student-Athletes: Implications for Reflexive Practice

“…Till date, majority of research in sport psychology have focused on conventional psychological skills (e.g., goal-setting, imagery, relaxation, self-talk) and general coping strategies (e.g., problem-based, emotion-based (Hanin 2007(Hanin , 2010Hanton et al 2004;Hardy et al 2010;Mellalieu et al 2006)). However, limited attention has been given to diverse strategies like religious coping within the sport psychology literature, especially in societies where culture is deeply rooted in the fabrics of everyday life (Hagan and Schack 2017;Hagan et al 2019). Drawing from positive psychology, religious coping has been suggested to offer a buffering role on significant life stressful events (Vishkin 2020;Vishkin et al 2014).…”

“…Drawing from positive psychology, religious coping has been suggested to offer a buffering role on significant life stressful events (Vishkin 2020;Vishkin et al 2014). For example, persons with professed spiritual backing (e.g., faith in God and use of prayer as coping resources) were more likely to manage better with high levels of life-event stress (Hagan and Schack 2017;Hagan et al 2019;Sarkar et al 2015;Sharp 2010;Vishkin 2020;Vishkin et al 2014). Religious coping, in this study, is referred to spiritual efforts, both action-oriented and intrapsychic, to maintain self-control (i.e., master, tolerate, reduce, minimize) environmental and internal demands, perceived as threatening, which exceed a person's available resources (Koenig 2012;Koenig et al 2012;Vishkin 2020;Vishkin et al 2014).…”

“…Given that issues related to religion and spirituality are quite pervasive in Africa, with evidence of more overt religio-spiritual identity and orientation of its people (Hagan and Schack 2017;Hagan et al 2019), investigating emotional experiences and related unaccustomed coping options in an African setting to better understand the possible cultural influences that previous studies have ignored is warranted. Sarkar et al (2015) noted that "given religion and spirituality, for example, are important for the welfare of numerous individuals, it is somewhat surprising that relatively few studies within the sport psychology literature have directly examined the association between religion, spirituality, and well-being in sport performers" (p. 49).…”

One novel virus, different beliefs as playmakers toward disease spread in Africa: looking at COVID-19 from a religious lens

“…Potential spread of COVID-19 through religious gatherings: religious and/or spiritual orientation and finding time for related behaviours are pervasive and structure the lives of nationals from the sub-region. People´s religious itinerary involves moving back and forth with dual or multiple affiliations, and that religious practices vary according to context or specific needs [ 6 , 7 ]. Allegiance to a particular religious affiliation becomes more identifiable in situations when specific individuals or groups´ needs are met and vice versa.…”

“…Allegiance to a particular religious affiliation becomes more identifiable in situations when specific individuals or groups´ needs are met and vice versa. Notwithstanding the prevalence of belief in God, Allah or a deity, not all people believe, and believers vary markedly due to their faith and as well have variance in religious practice between the public and private realm [ 7 , 8 ]. According to some authors [9], these variations are perhaps due to cultural transmission, where individuals´ beliefs are affected by their social contexts and cognitive style.…”