OCR A-Level PE sports psychology: a complete overview of Component 02 Section B

What this section demands

Sports psychology is Section B of Component 02 and the home of the paper's 20-mark extended-response question. It tests the theories of personality, arousal, confidence, aggression, motivation and leadership, and rewards applying them to a named performer or team and reaching a reasoned judgement. The model names matter, and the top marks come from balanced, applied argument. This overview ties the dot-point pages together.

Individual differences and personality

Personality is explained by the trait, social learning and interactionist theories; the interactionist view ($B = f(P, E)$) is preferred. An attitude has three parts (cognitive, affective, behavioural) and is changed by persuasive communication and cognitive dissonance. See the individual differences and personality page.

Arousal, anxiety and stress

Drive theory, the inverted U hypothesis, catastrophe theory and the zone of optimal functioning describe how arousal affects performance. Anxiety is somatic or cognitive, trait or state, and is controlled by cognitive techniques (self-talk, imagery) and somatic techniques (relaxation, breathing control). See the arousal, anxiety and stress page.

Confidence and attribution

Self-efficacy has four sources (Bandura), and Vealey's model explains sport confidence. Weiner's attribution model classifies causes on the locus of causality and stability; attributing failure to stable, uncontrollable causes leads to learned helplessness, which attributional retraining toward controllable causes prevents, building mastery orientation. See the confidence and attribution page.

Aggression and motivation

Aggression is explained by instinct, frustration-aggression, aggressive-cue and social learning theories, and controlled by punishment, removal and cognitive techniques. Motivation is intrinsic or extrinsic, and achievement motivation balances the need to achieve against the need to avoid failure; goal setting raises it. See the aggression and motivation page.

Group dynamics and leadership

Groups form through forming, storming, norming and performing, and cohere through task and social cohesion. Steiner's model (actual equals potential minus losses) and social loafing explain underperformance. Leadership styles are autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire, and Fiedler's and Chelladurai's models match the style to the situation. See the group dynamics and leadership page.

Check your knowledge

Attempt these, then check the solutions.

1. Write the interactionist equation for behaviour and say what each letter means. (2 marks)
2. State the inverted U hypothesis. (2 marks)
3. Name Bandura's four sources of self-efficacy. (2 marks)
4. State Steiner's model of group productivity. (2 marks)
5. Name the three main leadership styles. (3 marks)