Pre-start susceptibility to psychological crises in competitive sport: Theory and research.

Examined 2 variables considered to affect motor performance: ability to cope with psychological stress and competitive motivation. The Bayesian approach was used to estimate the diagnostic relevance of these 2 constructs on pre-start vulnerability to psychological crisis in competition. 28 West German basketball experts and 45 Israeli team handball experts responded to a 'psychological crisis during competition' questionnaire in which they were asked to assess the components of the Bayesian likelihood ratio for each level of the 2 psychological constructs. Findings demonstrate that high coping ability and a balanced level of motivation may result in a low competitive crisis vulnerability; low coping ability and too high or to low situational motivation may indicate psychological crisis. (French, Spanish, German & Italian abstracts) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)