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- Eriksson, Lina J. K.
(author)
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An Exploration of the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS), Response Inhibition, and Possible Implications in Sports
- 2021
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Large parts of human behaviors are oriented towards achieving a particular goal. Motivational factors in the form of approach and avoidance motivated behavior and executive functions (EFs) such as inhibition are central for goal-directed behavior. There are individual differences in the inhibition of prepotent behavior and the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) can be viewed as a neuropsychological system that has been proposed to be a personality trait that explains those individual differences. Inhibition is an EF that is involved in the control of impulses and enable us to choose how to react and behave. Sport is a context in which the cognitive demands can be high and there is a growing body of research trying to pinpoint the cognitive mechanisms behind superior athletic performance. Response inhibition is suggested to be one of the mechanisms that is of importance for performance in sport.The general aim of this thesis was to explore the BIS, response inhibition and the possible implications in sports. A theoretical framework of approach and avoidance motivation, the revised RST (Gray & McNaughton, 2000; McNaughton & Corr, 2004) was combined with a paradigm for assessment of response inhibition; the stop-signal paradigm (Logan & Cowan, 1984). In addition, different instruments for assessment of the BIS was investigated and designs of the stop-signal task for assessment of response inhibition was used. Study I and III aimed to examine the relationship between response inhibition and the BIS. Study I used a sample of non-athletes and Study III used a sample of non-athletes, and athletes from two different interceptive sports, biathlon and alpine skiing. The aim of Study II was to test the factor structure of a Swedish version of the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory of Personality Questionnaire (RST – PQ; Corr & Cooper, 2016). The results from Study I indicated that when the ability to inhibit prepotent response and behavioral precision (i.e., accuracy) is central for task performance, higher levels of BIS could be a vulnerability factor when the individual’s inhibitory ability simultaneously is poor. Due to ceiling effects in the variable accuracy, this was not possible to replicate in Study III. The results in Study II suggest that the RST-PQ has considerable promise since it, for example, provides an opportunity to distinguish between the individual differences between fear and anxiety, although there were issues concerning the convergent validity. Study III showed that athletes with experience in interceptive sports do not outperform non-athletes on response inhibition. The implications of these results are that it is possible that other aspects than being an athlete or non-xathlete need to be considered and that individual differences in the BIS could be one of these aspects.Taken together, results from these three studies indicated that that it is possible to combine a theoretical framework of approach and avoidance motivation and a paradigm for the assessment of response inhibition, the stop-signal paradigm, with the purpose of exploring the BIS, response inhibition and possible implications in sport. It has also showed the complexity with using self-report instruments for assessment of neuropsychological systems that, in theory, underlies personality and the difficulties with using SSTs for assessment of an estimated measure (i.e., SSRT) of response inhibition. By exploring the BIS and response inhibition, this thesis offers an approach to view sport expertise and show the value of focusing on individual differences in the personality trait BIS since, at least theoretically, the BIS has the potential to serve as an explanation for variations in response inhibition and the possible association with behavioral precision (i.e., accuracy).
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- Johansson, Susanne
(author)
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Sexual Relationships between Athletes and Coaches : Love, Sexual Consent, and Abuse
- 2017
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Coach-athlete sexual relationships (CASR) and sexual harassment and abuse (SHA) in sport can profoundly impact athletes’ welfare and performance. Yet, it is often ignored due to sensitivity, secrecy, and lack of knowledge. There is no previous research on SHA in sport in Sweden, and legal, consensual, same-sex CASR is under-researched. The overall purpose of this doctoral thesis is to examine CASR in competitive sport in Sweden. More specifically: a) athletes’ experiences of CASR; b) prevalence of SHA in coach-athlete relationships; c) conceptual and theoretical issues to broaden the understanding of CASR and SHA, will be examined.Survey methodology is employed in Article I to explore the prevalence of SHA, coach-athlete relationship factors, and association between relationship factors and SHA. A random sample of current and former male and female Swedish athletes (n=477) aged 25 participated. Article II outlines critical issues of CASR, and theories and conceptualisations of romantic love, sexual consent, and female athlete sexual agency is further developed in the thesis research summary. Drawing on interviews with five female elite athletes aged 23-30, experiences of CASR are analysed in-depth using discourse analyses in Article III and narrative case study design in Article IV.Results show that athletes’ experiences of CASR are positively and negatively diverse but potentially problematic because boundary ambiguity, secrecy, and isolation are common. Social and ethical dilemmas may also occur because CASR intersect contrasting discourses regarding elite sport, coach–athlete relationships, and romantic love. Moreover, CASR integrate professional and private contexts in which equality and power deviate. The research illustrates empirically and theoretically how female elite athletes exercise agency and recognise consensual, mutually desired CASR where romantic love is priority. However, sexual consent can be ambivalent rather than a mutually exclusive yes/no dualism. Socially, consent is a process of negotiation informed by contextual factors, sexual agency, and social structure. In addition, 5.5% prevalence of SHA perpetrated by male coaches is reported, distributed throughout the sampled athletes’ gender, age, sport performance levels, and individual/team sports in the sample.In conclusion, this thesis expands knowledge of athletes’ experiences of love, sexual consent, and abuse in CASR. Previous evidence of SHA in sport is confirmed to include sport in Sweden. Implications for sport and sport sciences are offered.
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