A grounded theory of psychological resilience in Olympic champions

By D. Fletcher, Mustafa Sarkar. 2012

735 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract Objective Although it is well-established that the ability to manage stress is a prerequisite of sporting excellence, the construct of psychological resilience has yet to be systematically examined in athletic performers. The study reported here sought to explore and explain the relationship between psychological resilience and optimal sport performance. Design and method Twelve Olympic champions (8 men and 4 women) from a range of sports were interviewed regarding their experiences of withstanding pressure during their sporting careers. A grounded theory approach was employed throughout the data collection and analysis, and interview transcripts were analyzed using open, axial and selective coding. Methodological rigor was established by incorporating various verification strategies into the research process, and the resultant grounded theory was also judged using the quality criteria of fit, work, relevance, and modifiability. Results and conclusions Results indicate that numerous psychological factors (relating to a positive personality, motivation, confidence, focus, and perceived social support) protect the world’s best athletes from the potential negative effect of stressors by influencing their challenge appraisal and meta-cognitions. These processes promote facilitative responses that precede optimal sport performance. The emergent theory provides sport psychologists, coaches and national sport organizations with an understanding of the role of resilience in athletes’ lives and the attainment of optimal sport performance.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology, Developmental and Educational Psychology, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/ab7cf7ab5b856b5b918ddbc21ce093af7a632aff

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Citations in the corpus

Understanding team resilience in the world's best athletes: A case study of a rugby union World Cup winning team. (2015, background): “More recently, Fletcher and Sarkar (2012) 20 interviewed twelve Olympic champions to explore and explain the relationship between 21 psychological resilience and optimal sport performance.”
Validity and Reliability of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) in Competitive Sport (2016, background): “Although the process conceptualization of resilience is currently more accepted, Fletcher and Sarkar (2012) found support for both process and trait conceptualizations of resilience in the sport context.”
Stressing the relevance of resilience: a systematic review of resilience across the domains of sport and work (2017, methodology): “Sport researchers are encouraged to build on resource theories (e.g. Fredrickson, 2001; Hobfoll, 2001), together with INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF SPORT AND EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY 79 grounded theories (e.g. Fletcher & Sarkar, 2012), to optimally build effective resilience interventions in sport.”
Resilience training in the workplace from 2003 to 2014: A systematic review (2015, background): “This definition encapsulates aspects of both trait and process conceptualizations of resilience (cf. Fletcher & Sarkar, 2012, 2013).”
Parenting in youth sport: A position paper on parenting expertise. (2015, background): “…& Hooven, 1996), implicit beliefs (Dweck, 1999), 9 achievement goals (Duda & Hom, 1993), parenting style (Sapieja et al., 2011), coping 10 (Nicholls & Polman, 2007) and resilience (Fletcher & Sarkar, 2013) represent domains that 11 may help to inform the intrapersonal skill-set of sport parents.”
Positive personality-trait-like individual differences in athletes from individual- and team sports and in non-athletes (2016, positive): “…sports on outcome in comparison to athletes from team sports (Mroczkowska, 1997), and given the contribution of positive PTLID to performance (e.g., resilience; Fletcher & Sarkar, 2012), we may expect positive PTLID to be more pronounced in individual athletes in comparison to team athletes.”
How Should We Measure Psychological Resilience in Sport Performers? (2013, background): “Although employing an outcome-dependent approach is clearly relevant when assessing adversity, Fletcher and Sarkar (2013) recently argued that ostensibly positive life events—that are not typically associated with a higher probability of undesirable outcomes—can also make substantial contributions t”
Mental fortitude training: An evidence-based approach to developing psychological resilience for sustained success (2016, background): “…from social, cultural, organizational, political, economic, occupational and/or technological sources; therefore, any psychological resilience training program should, as much as practically possible, consider the broader environment within which individuals operate (cf. Fletcher & Sarkar, 2012).”
Psychological resilience in sport: A review of the literature and implications for research and practice (2015, methodology): “The modelling strategies previously suggested will not be effective without first constructing a valid and reliable scale to measure resilience in sport (Fletcher & Sarkar, 2012; Sarkar & Fletcher, 2013).”
Ordinary magic, extraordinary performance: Psychological resilience and thriving in high achievers. (2014, background): “…clear from the findings of resilience research across various 2 performance domains is that resilience is a pivotal capacity not only for individuals reacting 3 to potentially traumatic events, but also for those who choose to operate in demanding 4 environments (cf. Fletcher & Sarkar, 2012).”
Defining and characterizing team resilience in elite sport (2013, background): “25 Most recently, Fletcher and Sarkar (2012) interviewed twelve Olympic champions to explore 1 and explain the relationship between psychological resilience and optimal sport performance.”
Interaction of athletes' resilience and coaches' social support on the stress-burnout relationship: A conjunctive moderation perspective (2016, methodology): “We included social support as a socio-cultural factor and athletes' resilience as a personal factor (e.g., Fletcher & Sarkar, 2012; Galli & Vealey, 2008).”