Great British medalists: Psychosocial biographies of Super-Elite and Elite athletes from Olympic sports

Progress in Brain Research

Volumn 232, Issue , 2017, Pages 1-119

  Hardy, Lew ^a   Barlow, Matthew ^a   Evans, Lynne ^b   Rees, Tim ^c   Woodman, Tim ^a   Warr, Chelsea ^d  

^a BANGOR UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

^b CARDIFF METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

^c BOURNEMOUTH UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

^d UK Sport   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Athletes; Biographies; Development; Elite; Super Elite

Indexed keywords

ATHLETE; ATTITUDE; CAREER; FAMILY; GREAT BRITAIN; HUMAN; LIFE EVENT; MOTIVATION; OBSESSION; PARENT; PERFECTIONISM; PERFORMANCE; PSYCHODYNAMICS; SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY; SPORT; TRAINING; ADOLESCENT; ADULT; ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE; COMPETITIVE BEHAVIOR; FEMALE; INTERVIEW; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; PSYCHOLOGY; UNITED KINGDOM; YOUNG ADULT;

ADOLESCENT; ADULT; ATHLETES; ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE; COMPETITIVE BEHAVIOR; FEMALE; GOALS; HUMANS; INTERVIEWS AS TOPIC; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; MOTIVATION; SPORTS; UNITED KINGDOM; YOUNG ADULT;

EID: 85017559606     PISSN: 00796123     EISSN: 18757855     Source Type: Book Series    
DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2017.03.004     Document Type: Chapter

References (123)

1. Adderholdt, M., Goldberg, J., Perfectionism: What's Bad About Being Too Good?. 1999, Free Spirit Publishing, Minneapolis, MN.
2. Agassi, A., Open: An Autobiography. 2010, Harper Collins Publishers, London, UK.
3. Allen, M.S., Greenlees, I., Jones, M., An investigation of the five factor personality model and coping behaviour in sport. J. Sports Sci 29 (2011), 841–850.
4. American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. fourth ed., 2000, American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC Text Revision.
5. Appleton, P.R., Hall, H.K., Hill, A.P., Relations between multidimensional perfectionism and burnout in junior elite male athletes. Psychol. Sport Exerc. 10 (2009), 457–465, 10.1016/j.psychsport.2008.12.006.
6. Armstrong, L., Every Second Counts. 2004, Yellow Jersey, New York, NY.
7. Bandura, A., Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory. 1986, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
8. Barlow, M., Woodman, T., Hardy, L., Great expectations: different high-risk activities satisfy different motives. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 105 (2013), 458–475, 10.1037/a0033542.
9. Barlow, M., Hardy, L., Evans, L., Rees, T., Woodman, T., Warr, C. (in preparation). Great British coaches: coach–athlete relationships of Super-Elite and Elite athletes from Olympic sports.
10. BBC, 2012. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/diving/17038040.
11. Bell, J., Hardy, L., Beattie, S., Enhancing mental toughness and performance under pressure in elite young cricketers: a 2 year longitudinal intervention. Sport Exerc. Perform. Psychol. 2 (2013), 281–297, 10.1037/a0033129.
12. Bloom, B.S., Developing Talent in Young People. 1985, Ballantine, New York, NY.
13. Bowlby, J., The Making and Breaking of Affectional Bonds. 1979, Tavistock Publications, London.
14. Bretherton, I., The origins of attachment theory: John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth. Dev. Psychol. 28 (1992), 759–775, 10.1037/10155-029.
15. Brown, L., Dame Kelly Holmes: I used to cut myself and even thought of suicide because the pressure to win was so great. 2012 Retrieved March 03, 2013, from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2204005/Double-gold-Olympic-medallist-Dame-Kelly-Holmes-reveals-long-battle-self-harming-admits-thought-taking-life.html.
16. Carducci, B.J., The Psychology of Personality: Viewpoints, Research, and Applications. second ed., 2009, Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, UK.
17. Carver, C.S., Scheier, M.F., On the Self-Regulation of Behavior. 1998, Cambridge University Press, New York, NY.
18. Castanier, C., Le Scanff, C., Woodman, T., Mountaineering as affect regulation: the moderating role of self-regulation strategies. Anxiety Stress Coping 24 (2010), 75–89, 10.1080/10615801003774210.
19. Cervone, D., Pervin, L.A., Personality Theory and Research. 10th ed., 2008, Wiley, Hoboken, NJ.
20. Coakley, J., Burnout among adolescent athletes: a personal failure or social problem?. Sociol. Sport J. 9 (1992), 271–285.
21. Coakley, J., Sport in Society: Issues and Controversies. 2007, McGraw Hill, Boston, MA.
22. Collins, D., MacNamara, A., The rocky road to the top: why talent needs trauma. Sports Med. 42 (2012), 907–914, 10.1007/BF03262302.
23. Costa, P.T., McCrae, R.R., Neo PI-R Professional Manual. 1992, Psychological Assessment Centre, Odessa, FL.
24. Côté, J., The influence of the family in the development of talent in sport. Sport Psychol. 19 (1999), 395–417.
25. Cresswell, S.L., Eklund, R.C., Athlete burnout: conceptual confusion, current research, and future research directions. Hanton, S., Mellalieu, S.D., (eds.) Literature Reviews in Sport Psychology, 2006, Nova Science Publishers, New York, 91–126.
26. Crocker, J., Wolfe, C.T., Contingencies of self-worth. Psychol. Rev. 108 (2001), 593–623.
27. Csikszentmihalyi, M., Flow. The Psychology of Optimal Experience. 1990, Harper and Row, New York.
28. Csikszentmihalyi, M., Rathunde, K., Whalen, S., Talented Teenagers: The Roots of Success and Failure. 1993, Cambridge University Press, New York.
29. DCshoesFilm, DC shoes: Travis Pastrana all in [Video file]. 2010 Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GH5H7Lbtj8.
30. Dearmore, J., Quotations from everywhere. 2013 Retrieved May 03, 2013 http://www.gospelweb.net/Americana/shortquotes3.htm.
31. Denzin, N.K., Lincoln, Y.S., The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research. third ed., 2005, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
32. Duda, J.L., Motivation in sport settings: a goal perspective approach. Roberts, G.C., (eds.) Motivation in Sport and Exercise, 1992, Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL, 57–91.
33. Duda, J.L., Perpetuating myths: a response to Hardy's Coleman Griffiths address. J. Appl. Sport Psychol. 9 (1997), 303–309.
34. Duval, S., Wicklund, R.A., A Theory of Objective Self-Awareness. 1972, Academic Press, New York.
35. Ericsson, A.K., Krampe, R.T., Tesch-Römer, C., The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychol. Rev. 100:3 (1993), 363–406.
36. Fenichel, O., The counter-phobic attitude. Int. J. Psychoanal. 20 (1939), 263–274.
37. Flegel, M.J., Sport First Aid: A Coach's Guide to the Care and Prevention of Athletic Injuries. fourth ed., 2008, Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL.
38. Fontana, A., Frey, J.H., The interview: from neutral stance to political involvement. Denzin, N.K., Lincoln, Y.S., (eds.) The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research, third ed., 2005, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, 695–727.
39. Fotheringham, W., Pooley's silver adds shine to team's hopes. 2008 Retrieved March 13, 2013, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/aug/14/emmapooley.cycling.
40. Fredricks, J.A., Eccles, J.S., Family socialization, gender, and sport motivation and involvement. J. Sport Exerc. Psychol. 27 (2005), 3–31.
41. Freud, S., 1999. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Translated by J. Strachey, in collaboration with Anna Freud, and assisted by Alix Strachey and Alan Tyson, 24 vols. Vintage, New York.
42. Gardner, H., The fruits of asynchrony: a psychological examination of creativity. Felman, D.H., Csikszentmihalyi, M.C., Gardner, H., (eds.) Changing the World. A Framework for the Study of Creativity, 1994, Praeger, Westport, CT, 47–68.
43. Geertz, C., The Interpretation of Cultures. 1973, Basic Books, New York, NY.
44. Geertz, C., Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology. 1983, Basic Books, New York, NY, 244.
45. Gentry, T., Jesse Owens: Champion Athlete. 2005, Chelsea House Publishers, New York, NY.
46. Gifford, B., Greg LeMond vs. The World. 2008 Retrieved April 13, 2013, from http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/greg-lemond-vs-the-world-20130318?page=7.
47. Glaser, B.G., Strauss, A.L., The Discovery of Grounded Theory. 1967, Aldine, Chicago.
48. Glendenning, B., 50 stunning Olympic moments: Eric Moussambani flails way to glory. 2012 Retrieved April 08, 2013, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2012/jan/25/olympic-games-eric-eel-moussambani.
49. Gogarty, P., Williamson, I., Winning at All Costs: Sporting Gods and Their Demons. 2009, JR Books Ltd., London.
50. Gotwals, J.K., Stoeber, J., Dunn, J.G.H., Stoll, O., Are perfectionistic strivings in sport adaptive? A systematic review of confirmatory, contradictory, and mixed evidence. Can. Psychol. 53 (2012), 263–279, 10.1037/a0030288.
51. Gould, D., Tuffey, S., Udry, E., Loehr, J., Burnout in competitive junior tennis players: II. Qualitative analysis. Sport Psychol. 10 (1996), 341–366.
52. Gould, D., Dieffenbach, K., Moffett, A., Psychological characteristics and their development in Olympic champions. J. Appl. Sport Psychol. 14 (2002), 172–204, 10.1080/10413200290103482.
53. Hardy, L., The Coleman Roberts Griffith address: three myths in applied consultancy work. J. Appl. Sport Psychol. 9 (1997), 277–294, 10.1080/10413209708406487.
54. Hardy, L., Responses to the reactants on three myths in applied consultancy work. J. Appl. Sport Psychol. 10 (1998), 212–219, 10.1080/10413209808406389.
55. Hardy, L., Moriarty, T., Shaping self-concept: the elusive importance effect. J. Pers. 74 (2006), 377–401, 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2005.00379.x.
56. Hardy, L., Jones, G., Gould, D., Understanding Psychological Preparation for Sport. 1996, Wiley, London.
57. Hardy, L., Bell, J.J., Beattie, S.J., Preliminary evidence for a neuro-cognitive model of mental toughness. J. Pers. 105 (2014), 458–475.
58. Hartley, S., Peak Performance Everytime. 2012, Routledge, New York, NY.
59. Harwood, C.G., Hardy, L., Swain, A.B., Achievement goals in sport: a critique of conceptual and measurement issues. J. Sport Exerc. Psychol. 22 (2000), 235–255.
60. Hassall, P., Bill Shankly in quotes. 2009 Retrieved from http://liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-news/bill-shankly-in-quotes.
61. Hindley, C.B., Problems of interviewing in obtaining retrospective information. Moss, L., Goldstein, H., (eds.) The Recall Method in Social Surveys, 1979, University of London Institute of Education, London, 100–108.
62. Hurrelmann, K., Social Structure and Personality Development. 2009, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
63. Hutchinson, G., The Best Australian Sports Writing 2002. 2002, Schwartz Publishing, Victoria, Australia.
64. IMDb, Biography for Bruce Jenner. 2012 Retrieved April 08, 2013, from http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0421063/bio.
65. James, W., The Principles of Psychology. 1890, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York.
66. Johnson, M., Slaying the Dragon. 1996, Piatkus Books, London.
67. Kingston, K., Hardy, L., Effects of different goals on processes that support performance. Sport Psychol. 11 (1997), 277–293.
68. Lester, J., Wrestling with the self on Mount Everest. J. Humanist. Psychol. 23 (1983), 31–41, 10.1177/0022167883232005.
69. Lilienfeld, S.O., Waldman, I.D., Landfield, K., Watts, A.L., Rubenzer, S., Faschingbauer, T.R., Fearless dominance and the U.S. Presidency: implications of psychopathic personality traits for successful and unsuccessful political leadership. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 103 (2012), 489–505, 10.1037/a0029392.
70. Lincoln, Y., Guba, E., Naturalistic Inquiry. 1985, Sage, Beverly Hills, CA.
71. Lister, C., Australian inspiration. 2010 Retrieved January 20, 2013, from http://www.australianinspiration.com.au/motivation.html.
72. Maccoby, E.E., The role of parents in the socialisation of children: an historical overview. Dev. Psychol. 28:6 (1992), 1006–1017, 10.1037/0012-1649.28.6.1006.
73. Macionis, J.J., Gerber, L.M., Sociology. 2011, Pearson Canada, Toronto.
74. Mallett, C.J., Hanrahan, S.J., Elite athletes: why does the ‘fire’ burn so brightly?. Psychol. Sport Exerc. 5 (2004), 183–200, 10.1016/S1469-0292(02)00043-2.
75. Miles, M.B., Huberman, A.M., Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook. second ed., 1994, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
76. Miller, A., The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self. 1997, Basic Books, New York, NY.
77. Miller, W.B., Rodgers, J.L., The Ontogeny of Human Bonding Systems: Evolutionary Origins, Neural Bases, and Psychological Manifestations. 2001, Springer, New York, NY.
78. Mishler, E.G., The analysis of interview-narratives. Sarbin, T.R., (eds.) Narrative Psychology: The Storied Nature of Human Conduct, 1986, Praeger, New York, NY, 233–255.
79. Morgan, P.B.C., Fletcher, D., Sarkar, M., Understanding team resilience in the world's best athletes: a case study of a rugby union World Cup winning team. Psychol. Sport Exerc. 16 (2015), 91–100, 10.1016/j.psychsport.2014.08.007.
80. Moriarty, T., Self-concept: alternative perspectives and clinical applications. Unpublished PhD thesis, 2003, University of Wales, Bangor.
81. Moss, L., Overview. Moss, L., Goldstein, H., (eds.) The Recall Method in Social Surveys, 1979, University of London Institute of Education, London, 159–169.
82. Nicholls, A.R., Polma, R.C.J., Levy, A.R., Backhouse, S.H., Mental toughness, optimism, pessimism, and coping among athletes. Personal. Individ. Differ. 44 (2008), 1182–1192, 10.1016/j.paid.2007.11.011.
83. Nvivo 10, 2012. http://www.qsrinternational.com/products_nvivo.aspx.
84. Ochse, R., Before the Gates of Excellence. The Determinants of Creative Genius. 1993, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
85. Oldenziel, K., Gulbin, J.P., Gagne, F., How Do Elite Athletes Develop? A Look Through the Rear-View Mirror. 2003, Australian Sports Commission, Canberra.
86. Orlick, T., Partington, J., Mental links to excellence. Sport Psychol. 2 (1988), 105–130.
87. Pampel, F.C., Drug and Sports. 2007, Infobase Publishing, New York, NY.
88. Pari, J., Nesti, M., Robinson, S., Watson, N., Sport and Spirituality. 2007, Routledge, New York, NY.
89. Partridge, J.A., Brustad, R.J., Stellino, M.B., Horn, T.S., (eds.) Advances in Sport Psychology, third ed., 2008, Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL, 269–291.
90. Patton, M.Q., Qualitative Evaluation Methods. second ed., 1990, Sage, Beverly Hills, CA.
91. Piedmont, R.L., Hill, D.C., Blanco, S., Predicting athletic performance using the five-factor model of personality. Pers. Individ. Dif 27 (1999), 769–777.
92. Pucin, D., Dyslexia caused Steve Redgrave, then 16, to leave school and pick up an oar. 1996 Retrieved March 03, 2013, from http://articles.philly.com/1996-07-21/sports/25620901_1_aladar-gerevich-bobsled-pusher-steve-redgrave.
93. Rees, T., Hardy, L., Güllich, A., Abernethy, B., Côté, J., Woodman, T., Montgomery, H., Laing, S., Warr, C., The Great British medalists project: a review of current knowledge on the development of the world's best sporting talent. Sports Med. 46 (2016), 1041–1058.
94. Richards, B., The Heart of a Champion: Inspiring True Stories of Challenge and Triumph. 2009, Revell books, Grand Rapids, MI.
95. Roberts, R., Woodman, T., Hardy, L., Davis, L., Wallace, H.M., Psychological skills do not always help performance: the moderating role of narcissism. J. Appl. Sport Psychol. 25 (2013), 316–325, 10.1080/10413200.2012.731472.
96. Romanov, N., Robson, J., Pose Method of Triathlon Techniques. 2008, Pose Tech Press, Florida.
97. Roy, A., Relationship of childhood trauma to age of first suicide attempt and number of attempts in substance dependent patients. Acta Psychiatr. Scand. 109 (2004), 121–125, 10.1046/j.0001-690X.2003.00234.x.
98. Roy, A., Hu, X.-Z., Janal, M.N., Goldman, D., Interaction between childhood trauma and serotonin transporter gene variation in suicide. Neuropsychopharmacology 32 (2007), 2046–2052, 10.1038/sj.npp.1301331.
99. SearchQuotes.com, Dawn Fraser quotes. 2013 Retrieved March 03, 2013, from http://www.searchquotes.com/search/dawn+fraser/.
100. Segrave, J., Sport as escape. J. Sport Soc. Issues 24 (2000), 61–77, 10.1177/0193723500241005.
101. Shavelson, R.J., Hubner, J.J., Stanton, G.C., Self-concept: validation of construct interpretations. Rev. Educ. Res. 46 (1976), 407–441.
102. Simon, H.A., Chase, W.G., Skill in chess. Am. Sci. 61 (1973), 394–403.
103. Simonton, D.K., The child parents the adult: on getting genius from giftedness. Colangelo, N., Assouline, S.G., Ambroson, D.L., (eds.), Talent Development: Proceedings From the 1991 Henry B. and Jocelyn Wallace National Research Symposium on Talent Development, 1992, Trillium, New York, NY, 278–297.
104. Solomon, R.L., The opponent process theory of motivation: the costs of pleasure and the benefits of pain. Am. Psychol. 35 (1980), 691–712.
105. Spradley, J.P., The Ethnographic Interview. 1979, Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, New York, NY.
106. Stoeber, J., Uphill, M.A., Hotham, S., Predicting race performance in triathlon: the role of perfectionism, achievement goals, and personal goal setting. J. Sport Exerc. Psychol. 31 (2009), 211–245.
107. Stoll, O., Lau, A., Stoeber, J., Perfectionism and performance in a new basketball training task: does striving for perfection enhance or undermine performance?. Psychol. Sport Exerc. 9 (2008), 620–629.
108. Stricker, G., Widiger, T.A., Weiner, I.B., Handbook of Psychology, Clinical Psychology, vol. 8, 2004, Wiley, New York, NY.
109. Thompson, R.A., Emotion regulation: a theme in search of a definition. Fox, N.A., (eds.) The Development of Emotion Regulation: Biological and Behavioral Considerations, 1994, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 25–52.
110. Vallerand, R.J., Mageau, G.A., Elliot, A.J., Dumais, A., Demers, M.A., Rousseau, F., Passion and performance attainment in sport. Psychol. Sport Exerc. 9 (2008), 373–392, 10.1016/j.psychsport.2007.05.003.
111. Van der Kolk, B.A., The compulsion to repeat the trauma: re-enactment, revictimisation, and masochism. Psychiatric Clinics of America Treatment of Victims of Sexual Abuse, vol. 12, 1989, W.B. Saunders, Philadelphia, 389–411.
112. Van Yperen, N.W., Why some people make it and others do not: identifying psychological factors that predict career success in professional adult soccer. Sport Psychol. 23 (2009), 317–329.
113. Wadey, R., Evans, L., Hanton, S., Neil, R., An examination of hardiness throughout the sport-injury process: a qualitative follow-up study. Br. J. Health Psychol. 17 (2012), 872–893, 10.1111/j.2044-8287.2012.02084.x.
114. Wallace, H.M., Baumeister, R.F., The performance of narcissists rises and falls with perceived opportunity for glory. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 82 (2002), 819–834, 10.1037/0022-3514.82.5.819.
115. Weaver, P., Sebastian Vettel leads home Mark Webber for dramatic Malaysian GP win. 2013 Retrieved May 01, 2013, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/mar/24/sebastian-vettel-wins-malaysia-gp.
116. Weber, R.P., Basic Content Analysis. 1985, Sage, Beverley Hills, CA.
117. Whitaker, M.C., Icons of Black America: Breaking Barriers and Crossing Boundaries. 2011, Greenwood, Santa Barbara, CA.
118. Wiersma, J.E., Hovens, J.G.F.M., van Oppen, P., Giltay, E.J., van Schaik, D.J.F., et al. The importance of childhood trauma and childhood life events for chronicity of depression in adults. J. Clin. Psychiatry 70:7 (2009), 983–989, 10.4088/JCP.08 m04521.
119. Winner, E., Gifted Children: Myths and Realities. 1996, Basic Books, New York.
120. Witt, R., A Lifetime of Training for Just Ten Seconds: Olympians in Their Own Words. 2012, Bloomsbury, London, UK.
121. Woodman, T., Hardy, L., Barlow, M., Le Scanff, C., Motives for prolonged engagement high-risk sports: an agentic emotion regulation perspective. Psychol. Sport Exerc. 11 (2010), 345–352, 10.1016/j.psychsport.2010.04.002.
122. Woodman, T., Hardy, L., Zourbanos, N., Beattie, S., McQuillan, A., Do performance strategies moderate the relationship between personality and training behaviours? An exploratory study. J. Appl. Sport Psychol 22 (2010), 183–197.
123. Woodman, T., Hardy, L., Roberts, R., Callow, N., Rogers, C.H., There is an “I” in TEAM: narcissism and social loafing. Res. Q. Exerc. Sport 82 (2011), 285–290, 10.1080/02701367.2011.10599756.