Vocational psychology, a specialty within applied psychology, is the study of vocational behavior and its development across the life cycle. Emerging in the first decade of the twentieth century as America became heavily industrialized, vocational psychology originally concentrated on the fit between a worker’s abilities and interests and a job’s requirements and rewards. The outcome
Flow is a special psychological state of total absorption in a task. When in flow, athletes are fully focused on what they are doing, and this heightened attention is associated with a number of positive factors. Accompanying a focused mindset are factors such as knowing exactly what one is going to do and how one
A master’s degree in SP may lead to one of five main options (excluding pursuing a doctoral degree). Athletic academic advising. Most U.S. universities are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). All universities in the NCAA’s Division I are required to operate athletic academic advising entities, which provide academic counseling for their student–athletes.
Computed across a lifespan of 75 years, there is a 1 in 200 chance that an individual in the United States will be murdered. The frequency of homicide and this startlingly high statistic warrant more concerted efforts to research the psychological underpinnings motivating homicide. The history of the study of the psychology of homicide is
Mindfulness is a state of non-judging awareness and acceptance of internal experiences. This state has been achieved through evidence-driven mindfulness-based interventions that are useful for the treatment of psychological concerns and for the enhancement of performance among athletes and other performers. This entry describes the basic processes associated with mindfulness, the intervention components that enhance
The term race is not easily defined; it has complicated and contested meanings contingent upon historical and social contexts. In a general sense, scholars within, and outside, sport psychology (SP) have conceptualized race as having biological and/or social distinctions. From a biological perspective, race refers to individuals who are perceived by others, and perhaps by
Investigative psychology is a problem-solving psychology set up to deal with real-world crimes and other issues, beyond the abstractions of university laboratories. Investigative psychologists collect, assess, interpret, and organize the information available from an investigation. It is an emerging area of criminal psychology that utilizes psychology to bring together various data relevant to investigations to
The history of exercise psychology is closely intertwined with the history of sport psychology. Although discussed in separate entries in this encyclopedia, the history of sport and exercise psychology can be considered as one history, with some differing paths and forks, but continual connections. That history has roots going back into classical times, as reflected
The purpose of fair play is to ensure that every competitor has an equal chance of being successful in any given competition. Fair play is supported by a philosophic belief that every player, team, official, and fan respects and honors (1) the rules of the game (constitutive, regulatory, and sportsmanship), (2) those who play the
A self-fulfilling prophecy can be defined as a prediction that sets in motion a series of events that ultimately causes the original prediction to become true. Within the sport setting, the self-fulfilling prophecy theory has been used to describe how and why the expectations that individuals (e.g., coaches) form about others (e.g., athletes) can serve