The Lived Experience of the Interaction Between Goal Orientations and Self-Confidence: A Descriptive Phenomenological Study
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Authors
Zomermaand, Kristin L.
Issue Date
2003
Type
Capstone
Language
en
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Self-confidence is a central aspect of sports and life. Those who are self-confident are often viewed as successful to the outside world. In light of that, self-confidence research is abundant, especially in the realm of sport psychology. Almost every sport psychology consultant's primary purpose is to build athletes' self-confidence. Athletes' perceptions of success are crucial in relation to self-confidence. Some athletes believe that winning or being better than others, is the only indicator of success. Others believe that the individual and his or her performance determine success despite the outcome. This relationship between self-confidence and the athlete's perceptions of success is a. central theme in sport psychology because athletes are living this interaction every day. If perceptions of success and self-confidence are interrelated, studying these phenomena and uncovering the lived experience of athletes would be beneficial for applied sport psychology -consultants. This current study used the qualitative research method of descriptive phenomenology (Giorgi, 1985) to uncover the lived experiences of athletes. The participants described experiences in their lives in which the result of a competition affected their self-confidence. These descriptions were then used to describe the interaction of the phenomena of goal orientations and self-confidence in sport.