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The Psychological Characteristics of Performance Under Pressure in Professional Rugby Union Referees

Denise Hill Orcid Logo, Nic Matthews, Ruth Senior

The Sport Psychologist, Volume: 30, Issue: 4, Pages: 376 - 387

Swansea University Author: Denise Hill Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1123/tsp.2015-0109

Abstract

This study used qualitative methods to explore the stressors, appraisal mechanism, emotional response, and effective/ineffective coping strategies experienced by elite rugby union referees during pressurized performances. Participants included seven male rugby union referees from the United Kingdom...

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Published in: The Sport Psychologist
ISSN: 0888-4781 1543-2793
Published: 2016
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa35679
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spelling 2021-01-08T13:50:12.9778048 v2 35679 2017-09-27 The Psychological Characteristics of Performance Under Pressure in Professional Rugby Union Referees 9bca603dad273604f16acfb1178b1d83 0000-0001-8580-4048 Denise Hill Denise Hill true false 2017-09-27 STSC This study used qualitative methods to explore the stressors, appraisal mechanism, emotional response, and effective/ineffective coping strategies experienced by elite rugby union referees during pressurized performances. Participants included seven male rugby union referees from the United Kingdom (Mage = 27.85, SD = 4.56) who had been officiating as full-time professionals for between 1 and 16 years (M = 4.85, SD = 5.42). Data revealed that the referees encountered a number of stressors, which were appraised initially as a ‘threat’, and elicited negatively-toned emotions. The referees were able to maintain performance standards under pressure by adopting proactive, problem- and emotion-focused coping strategies which managed effectively the stressors and their emotions. However, the use of avoidance-coping, reactive control, and informal impression management were perceived as ineffective coping strategies, and associated with poor performance and choking. Recommendations are offered to inform the psychological skills training of rugby union referees. Journal Article The Sport Psychologist 30 4 376 387 0888-4781 1543-2793 stress process, choking under pressure, clutch performance, coping 31 12 2016 2016-12-31 10.1123/tsp.2015-0109 COLLEGE NANME Sport and Exercise Sciences COLLEGE CODE STSC Swansea University 2021-01-08T13:50:12.9778048 2017-09-27T08:37:42.2012781 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, General and Mechanical Engineering - Sport and Exercise Sciences Denise Hill 0000-0001-8580-4048 1 Nic Matthews 2 Ruth Senior 3 0035679-02102017144944.pdf hill2016v3.pdf 2017-10-02T14:49:44.0730000 Output 495679 application/pdf Accepted Manuscript true 2017-10-02T00:00:00.0000000 true eng
title The Psychological Characteristics of Performance Under Pressure in Professional Rugby Union Referees
spellingShingle The Psychological Characteristics of Performance Under Pressure in Professional Rugby Union Referees
Denise Hill
title_short The Psychological Characteristics of Performance Under Pressure in Professional Rugby Union Referees
title_full The Psychological Characteristics of Performance Under Pressure in Professional Rugby Union Referees
title_fullStr The Psychological Characteristics of Performance Under Pressure in Professional Rugby Union Referees
title_full_unstemmed The Psychological Characteristics of Performance Under Pressure in Professional Rugby Union Referees
title_sort The Psychological Characteristics of Performance Under Pressure in Professional Rugby Union Referees
author_id_str_mv 9bca603dad273604f16acfb1178b1d83
author_id_fullname_str_mv 9bca603dad273604f16acfb1178b1d83_***_Denise Hill
author Denise Hill
author2 Denise Hill
Nic Matthews
Ruth Senior
format Journal article
container_title The Sport Psychologist
container_volume 30
container_issue 4
container_start_page 376
publishDate 2016
institution Swansea University
issn 0888-4781
1543-2793
doi_str_mv 10.1123/tsp.2015-0109
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
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hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, General and Mechanical Engineering - Sport and Exercise Sciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, General and Mechanical Engineering - Sport and Exercise Sciences
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description This study used qualitative methods to explore the stressors, appraisal mechanism, emotional response, and effective/ineffective coping strategies experienced by elite rugby union referees during pressurized performances. Participants included seven male rugby union referees from the United Kingdom (Mage = 27.85, SD = 4.56) who had been officiating as full-time professionals for between 1 and 16 years (M = 4.85, SD = 5.42). Data revealed that the referees encountered a number of stressors, which were appraised initially as a ‘threat’, and elicited negatively-toned emotions. The referees were able to maintain performance standards under pressure by adopting proactive, problem- and emotion-focused coping strategies which managed effectively the stressors and their emotions. However, the use of avoidance-coping, reactive control, and informal impression management were perceived as ineffective coping strategies, and associated with poor performance and choking. Recommendations are offered to inform the psychological skills training of rugby union referees.
published_date 2016-12-31T03:44:27Z
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