Performance psychology
Encyclopedia
Performance psychology is a branch of psychology that focuses upon the factors that allows individuals, teams, and groups to flourish and to achieve their aim of being the best. It engages the performer on how to be successful by developing the power of the mind and to practice mental skills training in their daily lives. This encourages peak performance in sports, business, entertainment and professional lives of all performs, whether elite, professional or of amateur status.
The past few years have seen an explosion in the field of performance psychology. This growth has been primarily in the study of performance excellence in sports as applied to the field of business. Important links have been made between world-class, championship individual and team sports performance and business results. In a similar vein, there has been an increase in the interest of coaching top performers and addressing their needs, not just providing remedial coaching for underachievers. During that time, more research has been devoted to understanding the characteristics of high achievers in sports as well as business, education, high-risk professions and in performing arts.
The training that underpins the psychology of performance has been researched and scientifically proven over many decades and is perfect grounding for those other performers in business; others in the performing arts such as dance, music, entertainment and the stage who wish to deliver an exceptional performance when it really matters and other professionals such as entrepreneurs, medical and legal professions, small business owners,and many more.
Performance psychology studies why workers want to succeed in an organization. While it is obvious that sports teams and individual players will reap the rewards of pay and recognition in their sport when they are successful, it is less obvious why ordinary workers want to perform their best on the job. Although business often relies on the entry-level and front-line worker to build the foundation of their company, the motivations of these workers are often ignored. It is the belief of performance psychologists that entry level and front-line workers are often the face (or the voice) of the brand to the customer. If that face (or voice) is unmotivated and untrained, the company will suffer.
Consultants that advise on performance psychology believe that motivations must be integrated into the workplace at all levels. Performance psychology consultants help provide tools for employers to improve worker performance.
SMART usually stands for:
Corporations need training programs designed to allow individuals to respond creatively and with a renewed sense of enthusiasm to the pressures and demands of work and life. The peak performer learns and utilizes three critical areas of functioning in a high-stress environment. First, self-awareness is the foundation of all change. Next, self-renewal is the conscious, ongoing efforts to rejuvenate and regenerate oneself, a necessary factor in combating regular, potent stressors. Finally, the formulation of strategies and tactics for dealing with the demands of work and life. This self-management is the key differentiator that makes peak performers stand out from individuals who give in to life's challenges.
To motivate goals must have:
Using the SMART Guidelines in setting goals and applying these Principles, your goal-setting process will be much more successful and your performance will improve.
Setting intrinsically motivating goals builds behavior that you see as an end in itself. Reinforcement or punishment that results from your behavior provides extrinsic motivation. Setting extrinsically motivating goals builds behavior that you see as a means to an end.
Goal-setting research has found that setting specific, difficult goals leads to higher levels of performance than setting easy, vague goals (Locke and Latham, 1990). Setting specific goals will allow you to determine if you can realistically attain it providing more motivation to achieve it. The more difficult a goal, the more measurable it is against an objective standard which may motivate higher performance. This will also have a positive effect on your self-esteem. It is important to set realistic goals that can be achieved in steps ensuring you have the necessary qualities, skills and abilities. It is recommended that you set performance goals rather than outcome goals so that it is easier to control. Outcome goals may not be under your control if they depend on other people's actions.
These five fundamental peak performance proficiencies are master skills that all top achievers have in their performance toolkits. The individual performing at peak has learned and mastered them and knows how to apply them in particular situations and also can creatively adapt them in new and unusual situations.
The past few years have seen an explosion in the field of performance psychology. This growth has been primarily in the study of performance excellence in sports as applied to the field of business. Important links have been made between world-class, championship individual and team sports performance and business results. In a similar vein, there has been an increase in the interest of coaching top performers and addressing their needs, not just providing remedial coaching for underachievers. During that time, more research has been devoted to understanding the characteristics of high achievers in sports as well as business, education, high-risk professions and in performing arts.
The training that underpins the psychology of performance has been researched and scientifically proven over many decades and is perfect grounding for those other performers in business; others in the performing arts such as dance, music, entertainment and the stage who wish to deliver an exceptional performance when it really matters and other professionals such as entrepreneurs, medical and legal professions, small business owners,and many more.
Performance psychology studies why workers want to succeed in an organization. While it is obvious that sports teams and individual players will reap the rewards of pay and recognition in their sport when they are successful, it is less obvious why ordinary workers want to perform their best on the job. Although business often relies on the entry-level and front-line worker to build the foundation of their company, the motivations of these workers are often ignored. It is the belief of performance psychologists that entry level and front-line workers are often the face (or the voice) of the brand to the customer. If that face (or voice) is unmotivated and untrained, the company will suffer.
Consultants that advise on performance psychology believe that motivations must be integrated into the workplace at all levels. Performance psychology consultants help provide tools for employers to improve worker performance.
Evolution
Sports psychology is a relatively new concept dating back to the late 1800 and early 1900’s. Norman Triplett conducted the first experiment in sports psychology in 1897 by studying the performance of cyclist in groups. Sport psychology continued to grow over the years and now is a Division of Sports Science. Carl Diem founded the world's first sports psychology lab in 1920. Coleman Griffith opened the first lab in North America at the University of Illinois in 1925 where he began his research on factors that affect Sports Psychology. The International Society of Sports Psychology was formed by Dr. Ferrucio Antonelli from Italy i n 1965. In the 1970's sports psychology became a part of many college curriculums. In the 1980's, sports psychologist began focusing their research on psycholoigcal affects on sports and exercise, training and stress management. Sports Psychology is used extensively within the elite and professional sports all around the globe to offer the individual or team the competitive advantage needed to become a winner.Training techniques and mental skills
It is assumed that optimal performance in sports is a natural talent that people are born with. However, performance is just as much mental as it is physical. Sports Psychology focuses on teaching practical skills to athletes to enable them to develop their mental abilities to the same level as their physical abilities. Mental skills training focuses upon core skills such as concentration, anxiety control, goal setting, motivation, relaxation techniques, imagery and self confidense to develop mental toughness and mental strength in an athlete. In addition, your ability to perform consistently is often determined by the consistency of your emotions. When you learn to respond positively to challenges that you are presented with, your performance in training and in competitions will be affected by your emotional reactions to those challenges. Therefore if you can master your emotions, you will have the power to use those emotions as a tool to facilitate individual and team performance. Physical skills, physical fitness and mental skills are the building blocks of the complete athlete that produces outstanding sports performance. The difference between a great performance and a good performance or between winning and losing is often related to mental rather than physical abilities.Goal-Setting
Goal-setting is used by top-level athletes, successful business-people and achievers in all fields. Setting goals gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation. It focuses your acquisition of knowledge, and helps you to organize your time and your resources so that you can make the most of your life. By setting sharp, clearly defined goals, you can measure and take pride in the achievement of those goals, and you'll see forward progress in what might previously have seemed a long pointless grind. You will also raise your self-confidence, as you recognize your own ability and competence in achieving the goals that you' ve set. Goal-setting requires communication, commitment, buy-in and negotiation by everyone involved. Setting goals should follow this simple rule Be-SMART.SMART usually stands for:
- S - Specific (or Significant).
- M - Measurable (or Meaningful).
- A - Attainable (or Action-Oriented).
- R - Relevant (or Rewarding).
- T - Time-bound (or Trackable).
Evolution
To study performance in the work place or in the business world, we must first look at Industrial and Organizational Psychology (I-O). This is the study of relationship between man and the world of work. Blum & Naylor (1968) defined it as the application of psychological facts and principles to the problems concerning people operating within the context of business and industry. Stemming from social psychology, psychologists examine the role of the work environment in performance and other outcomes including job satisfaction and health. This branch first appeared during World War I in response to the need to rapidly assign new troops to duty stations. After the War, I-O Psychology was used widespread. Walter Scott(1919) was the most influential I-O Psychologist along with James Cattell (1895) and Hugo Musterberg (1898) in the early development of the field. Organizational Psychology became prominent after World War II and was influenced by the Hawthorne studies.Training techniques and mental skills
Corporations today are committed to helping organizations empower their people with high-performance work styles. People who are identified as peak performers have mastered the skills to achieve even in high stress environments. In a fast-paced and ever-changing workplace, we are all concerned about stress, burnout and how to achieve peak levels. Part of the answer to reversing declining levels of performance lies in empowering individuals at all levels of the organization to effectively combat stress and to rise above daily challenges to strive toward self-mastery, which ultimately leads to organizational wellness. All levels of the organization can then learn how to partner to create individual and organizational health of performance on an ongoing basis. A core value of the corporate athlete is to be continually renewing and reinventing oneself.Corporations need training programs designed to allow individuals to respond creatively and with a renewed sense of enthusiasm to the pressures and demands of work and life. The peak performer learns and utilizes three critical areas of functioning in a high-stress environment. First, self-awareness is the foundation of all change. Next, self-renewal is the conscious, ongoing efforts to rejuvenate and regenerate oneself, a necessary factor in combating regular, potent stressors. Finally, the formulation of strategies and tactics for dealing with the demands of work and life. This self-management is the key differentiator that makes peak performers stand out from individuals who give in to life's challenges.
Goal-setting
Goal setting is a powerful way of motivating people, and of motivating yourself. The value of goal setting is so well recognized that entire management systems, like Management by Objectives, have goal setting basics incorporated within them. Many of us have learned – from bosses, seminars, and business articles to set SMART goals. In Dr. Edwin Locke's 1968 research article "Toward a Theory of Task Motivation and Incentives", he states that employees are motivated by clear goals and appropriate feedback. He went on to say that working toward a goal provided a major source of motivation to actually reach the goal – which, in turn, improved performance. Locke's research showed that there was a relationship between how difficult and specific a goal was and people's performance of a task. He found that specific and difficult goals led to better task performance than vague or easy goals. In 1990, Lock and Latham published their book called "A Theory of Goal-Setting and Task Performance" outlining five principles of goal-setting.To motivate goals must have:
- Clarity
- Challenge
- Commitment
- Feedback
- Task Complexity
Using the SMART Guidelines in setting goals and applying these Principles, your goal-setting process will be much more successful and your performance will improve.
Evolution
Performing Arts Psychology deals with the psychological factors associated with participation and performance in areas such as dance, music, acting, radio, and public-speaking. It stresses direct, real-world application of psychological research findings to the performing arts to strengthen, compliment, and improve the artist venue.Training techniques and mental skills
Mental training has become increasingly important over the past few years in order to improve different skills. This supports the old phrase "Mind Over matter" that you have heard coaches say while you were growing up. There are five main aspects of effective mental training.- Relaxation - progressive muscle relaxation should be used for mental rehearsing and focusing.
- Visualization - This technique can dramatically improve your results in sports, public speaking, performing arts and anything else that involves practice.
- Mental rehearsal - Go over the event in your mind. This conditions your subconscious into expecting what is happening and anticipating what happens next.
- Focusing - Train your conscious mind to focus on your concentration. This is an effective way of clearing the mind.
- Positive Affirmation - Be positive and self-encouraging at all times. Never think negative thoughts.
Effect of goal settings
An effective goal can motivate the behavior and help you identify the path toward achieving them by prescribing the behavior needed. Motivation can explain the direction, effort and persistence that is applied toward achieving your goals. Setting goals directs your behavior by focusing your attention and causes an increase in your efforts towards achieving them.Setting intrinsically motivating goals builds behavior that you see as an end in itself. Reinforcement or punishment that results from your behavior provides extrinsic motivation. Setting extrinsically motivating goals builds behavior that you see as a means to an end.
Goal-setting research has found that setting specific, difficult goals leads to higher levels of performance than setting easy, vague goals (Locke and Latham, 1990). Setting specific goals will allow you to determine if you can realistically attain it providing more motivation to achieve it. The more difficult a goal, the more measurable it is against an objective standard which may motivate higher performance. This will also have a positive effect on your self-esteem. It is important to set realistic goals that can be achieved in steps ensuring you have the necessary qualities, skills and abilities. It is recommended that you set performance goals rather than outcome goals so that it is easier to control. Outcome goals may not be under your control if they depend on other people's actions.
Characteristics of peak performers
The characteristics (called the five fundamental peak performance proficiencies) of peak performers, cut across all performance arenas. Whether it be attitude, motivation, preparation, concentration, the ability to enter the flow state, coachability, being a team player, leadership, or the ability to relax under pressure, the peak performer possesses common elements under any conditions. These fundamental proficiencies are: awareness of the self in all domains, control of effort, visualization, cognitive skills, and self-programming.These five fundamental peak performance proficiencies are master skills that all top achievers have in their performance toolkits. The individual performing at peak has learned and mastered them and knows how to apply them in particular situations and also can creatively adapt them in new and unusual situations.