Affective responses to success and failure:: a study of winning and losing in competitive rugby

Abstract Affective responses to success and failure in a competitive sport setting were investigated using a reversal theory framework in a replication and extension of a previous study Kerr and van Schaik, 1995 . Effects of game outcome on psychological mood states in rugby. cf11>Personality and Individual Differences, 19, 407-410.]. Participants were top-level Dutch male rugby players. Mood measures were administered pre- and postgame at four games: 2 games were won, 2 were lost. A mixed between and within subjects design was used for data analysis, in which game outcome (win or loss) was the between subjects factor, and the within subjects factor was time of testing (pre- vs. postgame). Numerous statistically significant results concerning the emotional states experienced prior to competitive sport and in response to winning and losing were obtained. Winning produced a range of pleasant emotional outcomes and reductions in arousal and stress: losing produced strong unpleasant emotional changes, a reduction in arousal but no reduction in stress.

[1]  K. Spink,et al.  Ambiguity of Outcome and Causal Attributions , 1980 .

[2]  R. Mykletun,et al.  Back pain, dysphoric versus euphoric moods and the experience of stress and effort in female hospital staff , 1997 .

[3]  A. Bird.  Team Structure and Success as Related to Cohesiveness and Leadership , 1977 .

[4]  J. Kerr,et al.  Self-reported mood in competitive squash , 1990 .

[5]  G. Burrows,et al.  Measurement of stress and arousal: validation of the stress/arousal adjective checklist. , 1983, British journal of psychology.

[6]  Edward McAuley,et al.  Affective Consequences of Winning and Losing: An Attributional Analysis , 1983 .

[7]  J. Kerr,et al.  Stress, Emotion, and Performance in Elite Slalom Canoeists , 1996 .

[8]  J. Thayer,et al.  The continuing problem of false positives in repeated measures ANOVA in psychophysiology: a multivariate solution. , 1987, Psychophysiology.

[9]  J. D. Brown,et al.  The thrill of victory, the complexity of defeat: self-esteem and people's emotional reactions to success and failure. , 1995, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[10]  T. Cox,et al.  An inventory for the measurement of self-reported stress and arousal. , 1978, The British journal of social and clinical psychology.

[11]  A. B. Hill,et al.  Causal attributions and emotional reactions to outcome in a sporting contest , 1988 .

[12]  J. Frey.  Social Risk and the Meaning of Sport , 1991 .

[13]  J. Kerr,et al.  Self-reported mood and running under natural conditions , 1993 .

[14]  Edward McAuley,et al.  Causal attributions, causal dimensions, and affective reactions to success and failure , 1986 .

[15]  B. Weiner.  Achievement Motivation and Attribution Theory , 1974 .

[16]  H. Ursin,et al.  Back pain and the experience of stress, efforts and moods , 1991 .

[17]  S. Svebak,et al.  The acute effects of participation in sport on mood: The importance of level of ‘antagonistic physical interaction’ , 1994 .

[18]  J. Kerr,et al.  Effects of game venue and outcome on psychological mood states in rugby , 1995 .

[19]  M. Mark,et al.  Causal Attributions of Winners and Losers in Individual Competitive Sports: Toward a Reformulation of the Self-Serving Bias , 1984 .

[20]  Michael J. Apter,et al.  Reversal Theory: Motivation, Emotion and Personality , 1989 .