Chapter 2

Jürgen R. Nitsch1,  and Dieter Hackfort2     1Department of Performance Psychology, Institute of Psychology, German Sport University Cologne, Germany     2University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich, Germany

Abstract

 

Performance is a constituent element of human life and a particular objective of manifold everyday activities. Consequently, it is addressed from the perspective of different scientific disciplines ranging from philosophy to biochemistry. In psychology, performance became a traditional topic in various fields of fundamental and applied psychology, e.g., in educational psychology, occupational psychology, clinical psychology, and sport psychology. Aside from the test diagnostic assessment of “classic” performance variables (e.g., reaction time, concentration, intelligence), numerous empirical studies are focused on the efficiency and vulnerability of mental functioning on the one hand and on social interaction in performance settings on the other. Typical issues are learning and memory; problem solving; decision-making; movement control; time management; learning and achievement motivation; coping with stress, anxiety, and failure; error prevention; performance-related mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders; burnout and dropout; as well as team building; division of tasks; allocation of responsibilities; teamwork skills; conflict management; mobbing prevention; and leadership style. In applied sport psychology, “performance psychology” commonly covers a toolbox of intervention techniques related to “mental power,” “mental strength,” “mental toughness,” “mental fitness,” or more specifically to self-confidence and self-efficacy, for example, self-motivation, self-programming, goal-setting, self-talk, imagery, visualization and mental training, stress-inoculation, cognitive reframing, attention control, relaxation, and biofeedback (see, e.g., Dosil, 2006; Hackfort & Tenenbaum, 2006; Hardy, Jones, & Gould, 1996).

In spite of those multifarious aspects, there has been, however, neither a comprehensive and consensual definition of performance psychology until now nor an integrative theory that provides the potential to systematically guide research and application, thus making the dynamic complexity of human performance sufficiently understandable, controllable, and communicable. So, it is worth paying particular attention to these issues. This will happen in three theory-oriented steps: First, the psychological perspective on performance is characterized, providing a preliminary understanding of performance psychology and its subject area. The second and main step addresses the needed (meta-) theoretical foundation of performance psychology. Accordingly, the focus is not on listing various performance-related theoretical concepts (e.g., for team sports thoroughly carried out by Lebed & Bar-Eli, 2013) but on embedding and considering the performance issue within the overall context of human action organization. Therefore, essentials of the action theory perspective as developed by the authors are outlined and specified with regard to the issue at hand. Third, particular attention is given to the functional role of emotions in action organization. This will contribute to further illustrating action theoretical postulates and to a more proper theory-based understanding of emotional states and processes with special regard to both performance and in general.

The general task of performance psychology is related to the description, explanation, prediction, and optimization of performance-oriented activities in accordance with general and domain-specific ethical standards. The psychological perspective on performance comprises three issues: (1) the psychological fundamentals of performance-oriented activities in various action domains such as labor, politics, arts, music, or sports; (2) psychological transfer effects of performance-oriented activities in particular with regard to personality development, self-esteem, time management, stress control, communication skills, etc.; and (3) optimization of the capability to achieve demanding mental tasks.

This understanding refers to different agents, for example, individuals, groups, and organizations, young and elderly, as well as people with or without disabilities. It covers different motives, domains, and kinds of activity, for example, school/academic education, the whole range of professional activities, health-oriented sport and exercise, and elite sports, housekeeping, and playing music, as well as strange and/or extraordinary performances documented in the Guinness World Records. Even health, well-being, youthfulness, beautifulness or life expectancy are increasingly considered to be products of more or less successfully self-managed activity for which the person is self-responsible. In addition, the preceding definition includes different proficiency levels (e.g., novices and experts, amateurs and professionals) as well as different criteria of performance, for example, primary criteria related to the action itself and its direct results (frequency, duration, speed, accuracy, novelty, required effort, and their combinations), and secondary criteria in the sense of external/extrinsic social evaluation and feedback. According to Bem’s (1972) “self-perception theory,” the latter follows a simple logic: If I (or someone else) receive recognition such as praise, awards, applause, or many scientific citations, then the corresponding performance must have been outstanding! (As we all know, that is often a misguiding conclusion!)

For a better understanding of the psychological perspective on performance, it is necessary to distinguish two functional aspects of performance: (1) performance as a means to an end with regard to the motives and interests that are intended to satisfy by the consequences of a performance action; (2) performance as an end in itself, that is, the accent is on the self-reinforcing performance activity itself and its progressive perfection. In this sense, striving for excellence more or less turns into functional autonomy.

Furthermore, we must be aware of the formally twofold usage of the term “performance” (1) as related to a class of specific actions and outcomes or (2) as a more or less marked dimension of any kind of human action (that is the position preferred here).

The key features of any performance orientation can be summarized as follows (see Figure 1):