Irrational beliefs and choking under pressure: A preliminary investigation

Abstract

Researchers who examine existing models of choking under pressure are beginning to explore the antecedents that predispose individuals to increased anxiety. Irrational beliefs (IBs) may be one such antecedent to "choking", given that irrational beliefs are closely associated with anxiety intensity. This study aimed to investigate whether IBs influenced anxiety and performance under pressure. Experienced Australian football players (N=35) completed an IBs questionnaire prior to an Australian football set shot experiment with low-and high-pressure.During both pressure conditions, participants completed a state anxiety questionnaire prior to completing 15 set shots on goal. Results indicated that cognitive and somatic anxiety increased from low-to high-pressure. For somatic anxiety, an IBs main effect approached significance, indicating higher somatic anxiety with increases in IBs. A marginally significant Condition main effect was found for performance, which decreased from low-to high-pressure, with no other effects for performance evident. Follow-up correlation analysis of seven athletes who likely experienced choking (i.e., greater than 15-point performance decrease) indicated a strong negative correlation between IBs and change in performance from low-to high-pressure. Further analyses for "chokers" indicated a significant IBs x Condition interaction, with performance tending to increase with increasing IBs under low-pressure and decrease with increasing IBs under high-pressure. This study provides initial, tentative support that IBs associated with performance trends of "chokers" under different pressure conditions may be dissimilar to those of "underperformers" or "clutch" performers. Applied implications for sport psychologists working with athletes are discussed.

A systematic mapping review on the use of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) with athletes

“…Keywords: beliefs; rational; REBT intervention; mental health Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), developed by Albert Ellis in the 1950s (Ellis, 1957), is widely regarded as the first of the cognitive behavioral therapies (CBTs; David et al, 2005). Despite being developed in a clinical context, in recent years the reported application of REBT in sport settings has grown (e.g., Mesagno et al, 2020;Wood et al, 2019), in part because of its benefits in promoting, restoring, and maintaining athlete mental health, wellbeing, and performance (Turner, 2016a). This burgeoning corpus of research includes different types of work, such as interventions (e.g., Davis & Turner, 2019;Turner, Kirkham et al, 2018), psychometric validations (e.g., Turner & Allen, 2018) or applied tools (Turner, 2016b).…”

“…Because athletes lead intense lives and experience overlapping transitions between different contexts for several months or years (e.g., sports, academics, work, family), the demands, resources and coping strategies must be distributed accordingly. Indeed, research has indicated that irrational beliefs are related to increased burnout (Turner & Moore, 2016), choking under pressure (Mesagno et al, 2020), psychological distress (Turner, Aspin et al, 2019;Vîslă, et al, 2016), and anger (Turner, Carrington et al, 2019). But to date, studies have focused on studying the effects of REBT interventions with athletes in situations on-the-field (e.g., anger, performance, resilience), and less focus has been towards mental health effects (see Davis & Turner, 2019, for an exception).…”

“…Within the specific context of sports, the consequences stemming from irrational beliefs can hinder athletes from achieving their objectives and attaining sound sports performance in both the short and long term, and they can affect athletes' psychological wellbeing (Turner, 2016a). For example, the research developed by Mesagno et al (2020) showed a strong negative correlation between irrational beliefs and the performance for Australian football players who 'choked' under pressure; performance tended to increase with increasing irrational beliefs under low pressure and decrease with increasing irrational beliefs under high pressure.…”

The Persian irrational performance beliefs inventory (iPBI-Persian): Translation, confirmatory factor analysis, and test–retest reliability, in Iranian athletes

“…Importantly, REBT provides a specific intervention through which irrational beliefs are assessed and then disputed (i.e., via cognitive restructuring), following which rational beliefs are endorsed and strengthened (see Ellis, 1994). In sport, irrational beliefs are identified as an important risk factor for anxiety (Turner & Barker, 2013), low self-acceptance (Cunningham & Turner, 2016), fatigue (Turner & Moore, 2016), low resilience (Deen et al, 2017), depression (Chotpitayasunondh & Turner, 2019;Turner et al, 2019a, b), and poor athletic performance (Mesagno et al, 2020;Wood et al, 2017). A recent systematic review of the research concerning REBT with athletes indicates that REBT is especially useful in helping athletes to reduce anxiety (Jordana et al, 2020).…”

Adolescent Soccer Athletes’ Irrational Beliefs About Basic Psychological Needs are Related to Their Emotional Intelligence and Mental Health

“…For example, regarding the BPN of autonomy, an adolescent may believe that 'I must always decide and do whatever I want (demandingness), otherwise things are terrible (awfulizing), I can't stand it (low frustration tolerance), it makes me a totally worthless person (self-depreciation), and my parents are useless (other depreciation)'. When the adolescent faces a situation in which they are prohibited from doing what they want, their irrational beliefs concerning autonomy may precipitate unhealthy negative emotions and maladaptive behaviours (Turner, 2016) that can harm performance (Mesagno et al, 2020;Turner et al, 2018), and increased burnout (Turner & Moore, 2016). If one demands fulfilment of the BPNs, and one makes ones' self-worth dependent on such need fulfilment, mental health could be undermined (Artiran et al, 2020).…”