David Trouilloud and Charlotte Amiel
University of Grenoble, France
Citation
Trouilloud, D., Amiel, C. (2011). Reflected appraisals of coaches, parents and teammates: A key component of athletes’ self?. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 42(1), 97-114.
Abstract
This study investigated some ideas of the reflected appraisal process (i.e., perception of how others see us) in a sport setting. The first purpose of this study was to evaluate if athletes differentiated the reflected appraisals of three significant others: coaches, parents and teammates. The second purpose of this study was to examine the relation between reflected appraisals of those three significant others and athletes’ self-perceptions in terms of competence and future progress. Participants were 368 young adult athletes (Mage = 21.13). Preliminary analyses indicated that reflected appraisals of coaches and teammates were strongly related, supporting the existence of a “generalized sport-other” (Amorose, 2003). Multiple regression analyses revealed that athletes’ self-perceptions of competence were positively predicted by reflected appraisals of sport-others and parents about competence. Moreover, athletes’ self-perceptions of future progress were positively predicted by reflected appraisals of sport-others and parents about future progress and by reflected appraisals of parents about competence, but negatively predicted by reflected appraisals of sport-others about competence. Results are discussed in terms of contributions to the understanding of how coaches, teammates and parents specifically shape athletes’ self-perceptions.
Keywords: Adult athletes, Reflected appraisals, Self, Significant others