A systematic review and meta-analysis of implicit theory research in sport, physical activity, and physical education

Abstract

1 AbstractThe purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to gather, catalogue, assess and evaluate the available evidence examining implicit beliefs about ability in the sport, physical activity, and physical education contexts. A total of 43 studies were found, of which 39 were subjected to meta analyses. With only 7 experimental studies, the strength of evidence is moderate and the field would benefit from greater experimental work. Overall, incremental beliefs were moderately associated with a small group of theoretically-derived correlates, while entity beliefs were only weakly associated. The field would benefit from expanding these outcomes to include a wider range of pertinent outcomes. Researchers should focus their efforts on systematically exploring the most powerful ways of inducing adaptive implicit beliefs with the aim of providing solutions to significant problems such as preventing dropout from organised sports, improving academic grades in and beyond physical education, and increasing levels of physical activity.Key words: implicit beliefs, self-theories, motivation, incremental beliefs, entity beliefs 2 A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Implicit Theory Research in Sport, Physical Activity, and Physical EducationImplicit beliefs about human traits and abilities over a wide variety of domains have consistently been shown to influence one's cognitions, affect, and behaviours (Burnette, O'Boyle, VanEpps, Pollack, & Finkel, 2013;Dweck, 1999;W. Li & Lee, 2004). Implicit beliefs are unconscious conceptions about the nature of human abilities and they exert a strong influence on motivational frameworks because they provide a schemata through which all achievement-related events are interpreted and responded to (Dweck & Leggett, 1988).There are two basic implicit beliefs: incremental beliefs and entity beliefs. Those who hold an incremental belief regard ability as a malleable and incremental quality that can be trained and developed, while those who hold an entity belief regard ability as a fixed or concrete entity (Dweck, 1999).Research across domains including sports, education, personality, and morality supports the adaptive benefits of incremental beliefs. Such benefits include higher rates of motivation, persistence and effort, a greater preference for learning and challenge, an ability to self-regulate behaviour, and an ability to generate strategies for improvement (Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck, 2007;Burnette et al., 2013;Chiu, Dweck, Tong, & Fu, 1997;Chiu, Hong, & Dweck, 1997;Dweck & Leggett, 1988;Gunderson et al., 2013;W. Li & Lee, 2004). Furthermore, implicit beliefs are particularly powerful predictors of adaptive or maladaptive responses following a failure or setback (Dweck & Leggett, 1988). As such, implicit beliefs may be important in sports and physical activity contexts where: failures and setback are numerous and occur often; the development of expertise requires effort and persistence over the course of many years; and the core goals of participation often rela...

Implicit Theories of Ability in Physical Education: Current Issues and Future Directions

“…We are mindful that a 117 related area of research is that of the undifferentiated and differentiated conceptions of ability 118 grounded in the work of Nicholls (1989). We refer readers to this parallel research literature Gardner, & Spray, 2016). Eleven of these studies in PE5 were cross-sectional, descriptive 124 studies (plus 3 longitudinal studies and 2 experimental studies), with all but one study using 125 either the original version of the Conceptions of the Nature of Athletic Ability Questionnaire 126 (CNAAQ; Sarrazin et al, 1996) or the revised version (CNAAQ-2; Biddle et al, 2003).…”

“…Experimental evidence on implicit theories of ability in PE is limited in terms of the 172 number and quality of studies (Vella et al, 2016). In a quasi-experimental design, Li (2006) 173 examined the relationship between implicit theories and students' understanding of the 174 meaning of effort after practicing a novel task.…”

Implicit beliefs of disability and elite sport: the para-athlete experience

“…It would seem therefore that individuals inclined towards incremental beliefs promote the pursuit of self-referent goals which tend to be more self-determined in nature, whereas those predisposed towards entity beliefs tend to pursue external-referent goals that may be less self-determined and extrinsic in nature (Vella et al 2016). This consistent association of incremental beliefs with adaptive motivational constructs (e.g., Chian andWang 2008, Jowett andSpray 2013) coupled with the overt focus on performance and physical ability in sport highlights how incremental theories are essential in overcoming potential setbacks and limiting adverse motivational consequences (Spray 2016).…”

“…This consistent association of incremental beliefs with adaptive motivational constructs (e.g., Chian andWang 2008, Jowett andSpray 2013) coupled with the overt focus on performance and physical ability in sport highlights how incremental theories are essential in overcoming potential setbacks and limiting adverse motivational consequences (Spray 2016). However, as the literature regarding the underlying motivational processes that influence the benefits associated with adaptive implicit beliefs is lacking (Vella et al 2016), it would be presumptuous to disregard the role of entity beliefs in the development of sporting performance (Jowett and Spray 2013).…”

“…Indeed, while it has been acknowledged that how one interprets and acts upon one's beliefs varies according to the situational context, there is a paucity of research pertaining to behavioural outcomes like effort, persistence, and willingness to seek out challenges (Dweck 1999), in addition to social and environmental antecedents (Vella et al 2016). While recent qualitative studies (i.e., Jowett andSpray 2013, Slater et al 2012) have addressed this and found that sporting performance consists of a multitude of attributes that may be perceived as fixed (e.g., persistence) or malleable (e.g., technical skills) in elite and high performance settings (i.e., athletics and golf, respectively), Jowett and Spray (2013) acknowledged that a sample of elite athletes may skew the findings in favour of incremental beliefs, as most athletes would not have reached this level if they felt they could not improve.…”