Lecture 4 - Sacrificial goals and Women's Elite Gymnastics Flashcards
Perspectives on elite gymnastics
“Many of the girls end up socially immature, physically stunted, prone to
depression, and suffering from eating disorders.”
Story of Kerri Strug and the Gold
Medal for the Americans.
Balance Beam
Uneven Bars
Floor Exercise
Vault
Injured her foot badly, still did the jump, injured her foot even more. But America won the gold metal
What Kerry Thought Before 2nd Jump:
“I knew that after Dominique fell twice on
the vault that we needed my vault for the
gold medal. I said a little prayer. I said
‘Please God help me out here. I’ve done
this a 1,000 times. I just need to do it one
more. I just let my adrenaline carry me.
When I landed I felt a crunch again.”
Mary Lou Retton Quote
“People don’t realize how tough and strong
these girls are. They are tougher than
football players.
Baumeister Analysis : self-control and transcendence
“While seriously injured and while knowing an intensely painful and possibly harmful experiences is awaiting one, one must still execute a strenuous and demanding routine with world-class skill.”
Self-control defined:
“The capacity to alter one’s responses especially so as to bring them into line with standards such as ideals, values, morals, and social expectations, and to support the pursuit of long-term goals.”
*More deliberate, conscious, & effortful subset of self-regulation.
Baumeister et al., 2007
Transcendence:
Seeing beyond the immediate stimulus environment by focusing on more long-range goals that are higher in value.
Higher processes involve: longer time-spans, more extensive networks of meaningful associations, more distal and abstract goals
Ingredients of Successful Self-Regulation
1. Standards. … the gymnasts have clear standards and know very well what is expected of them
2. Monitoring of feedback. … they get immediate feedback and know what score the judges will give them
3. Self-Regulatory Strength:
Self-Regulation of Elite Gymnasts
no hanging out, no tv watching, no going on dates, no spontaneous uncontrolled eating, no giving in to minor injuries
Misregulation
Misregulation
Exerting self control in a way that fails to bring about the desired results because the efforts are misguided or wasted.
Types of Misregulation
-Misunderstood contingencies.
*Ex: unrequited love.
-Trying to control the uncontrollable.
*Ex: choking in a performance setting.
Was Keri Strug’s performance an example of healthy self-control?
Humanistic Perspective:
Does pursuit of the goal support:
*Holistic functioning and self actualization
*Basic need satisfaction?… physical needs (eating, working legs, healthy growth…), psychological needs
Sheldon 2010 Three Psychological Needs
-Goal Progress results
in enhanced well being
only if goal pursuit is
associated with basic
need satisfaction
* Relatedness: Needing to feel meaningfully connected to at least some other people.
* Competence: Needing to feel that one can do things well or at least improve in one’s abilities.
* Autonomy: Needing to feel that one owns and agrees with one’s behavior.
Was Keri Strug’s performance an example of healthy self-regulation? Is the level of self-control excessive?
Qualitative Exploration of Retirement from Women’s Gymnastics
Structured interviews with 5 elite British
women gymnasts.
Mean age = 24, competed nationally or
internationally, retired at 16, practiced 30
hours per week at peak
Living for gymnastics
“You don’t have time to do or think about
anything else because you are either on your
way to the gym, or training, or tired from training.
It’s a bit all encompassing
…my friends were like, oh will you come out with
us tonight, and I always had to say no because
my day was pretty much get up, go to school.,
hurry home, do homework, eat dinner in the car
on the way to the gym, do gym, get home and
go to bed.”
Gymnast versus person who does gymnastics
“It is such an early age that you go into it, I mean
your four…I mean you are still learning who you
are and then for the next 8 or 9 years of your life I
was .. You know..
“If you start at a gym at 5 you get “what are you?”
You’re a gymnast, this is how gymnasts walk, this
is how gymnasts stand, this is how gymnasts
behave, and even though you do really want to be
one its also getting indoctrinated into you all the
time.”
External Pressure to Strive for Perfection
“…once you got to that point you’ve got to
keep up your level of achievement..
Otherwise anything else compared to that
is not as good…So it’s not about
maintaining a level of gymnastics its about
always improving on that and just doing
more and more, otherwise you are failing
Gymnast seen as dispensable tool
“I believed everything he said. I would do
any move that he said and when he told me
I was complaining you know, I told myself
as well you know it didn’t hurt. I could keep
going through all the pain and I think I’ve
got a ridiculous pain threshold now
Is it really autonomy? … decided for you since young…
Is there relatedness?… can’t even see other friends…
Is there competence?… perhaps, but competence always questioned
Conclusion of Qualitative Study
“Participants had been encouraged to
dedicate their lives to gymnastics and
were, as a result, left feeling lost and
helpless when they retired. After
prematurely adopting an identity based
solely on their role as a gymnast, many
knew little about who they were and what
they wanted to do with their lives.”
Kerri Strug’s Auto-biography
Additional Information that sheds light on
her motivation.
The older sister.
Parental encouragement to relax.
Sacrifice—but at what price?
Sacrifice—but at what price? A longitudinal study of
young adults’ sacrifice of basic psychological needs in
pursuit of career goals
Holding et al 2020; 6-wave longitudinal study
Career Goals
Sacrifices for these goals
-Maintenance Activities
-Leisure Activities
-Psychological Needs
Antecedents of Sacrifice
- Motivation for career, for sacrifice,
Outcomes
- Goal Progress
- Psychological Distress
Mediator
- Need Frustration over year
Is Self-Discipline Over-rated?
by Alfie Kohn
Jack Block’s analysis
of ego-control
Extent to which
impulses and feelings
are expressed or
suppressed.
Impulsive & distractible;
Compulsive & Joyless
“We should not favor
the replacement of
unbridled impulsivity
with categorical,
pervasive and rigid
impulse control.
What distinguishes healthy self-control?
“What counts is the capacity to choose
whether and when to persevere, to control
oneself, to follow the rules – rather than
the simple tendency to do these things in
every situation…This is what children will
benefit from developing…
Current Status of US Women’s Olympic Gymnastics
Report on Sexual Abuse in U.S.A.
Gymnastics Urges ‘Culture
Change’ By CHRISTINE HAUSER
JUNE 27, 2017
Lawsuit Accuses Michigan
Doctor of Sexually Abusing
Young Gymnasts By
CHRISTINE HAUSERJAN. 11, 2017
Former USA Gymnastics Doctor
Faces New Sexual Assault
ChargesBy VICTOR MATHERFEB.
22, 2017
The problem of elite gymnastics: Focus on self-control
sacrifices satisfaction of essential psychological need
Goal Action Plan
- Focus attention
- Give Effort
- Persist
3 universal and essential
psychological needs
Relatedness: meaningfully
connected to at least some
other people.
Competence: one can do things
well or at least improve in one’s
abilities.
Autonomy –feel that one owns
and agrees with one’s behavior.
Sacrificing needs to pursue extreme
career goal not only leads to
psychological distress, but it impairs
successful pursuit of the original goal
Key points
We must consider whether goals satisfy or
thwart basic psychological needs.
We should question whether self-control is
always adaptive.
Interview w Keri Strug at age 28
Interview w Keri Strug at age 28
“I think I am innately competitive,
but I have learned to bring it
down a notch since the Atlanta
games. I was so much more
competitive and in need of
perfection for the first 23 years.
But I have changed my attitude
and focus. I think with time, I
have learned the process and the
day to day is important too, not
just the final product”
