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TheDevelopmentofPsychologicalTalentinU.S.OlympicChampionsFinalGrantReport*ExecutiveSummaryDecember2001ByDanielGould,Ph.D.,KristenDieffenbach,M.S.&AaronMoffett,M.S.UniversityofNorthCarolinaatGreensboroAppliedSportPsychologyLaboratoryDepartmentifExercise&SportScience247HHPBldg.,P.O.Box26169Greensboro,NC27402-6169*ThisresearchwassupportedbyagrantfromtheSportScienceandTechnologyDivisionoftheUnitedStatesOlympicCommittee(USOC).Theauthorswouldliketothankthesportpsychologystafffortheirassistance.Aspecialthanksisextendedtotheathletes,coachesandparents/significantothers/siblingswhosofreelygaveoftheirtimetotakepartinthisproject.AfullcopyofthisreportisavailablefromtheUSOCLibraryandEducationCenter,U.S.OlympicComplex,ColoradoSprings,Colorado.TheDevelopmentofPsychologicalTalentinU.S.OlympicChampionsExecutiveSummaryNeedforthePresentStudyIftheUSOCistosustainitscompetitiveexcellenceinOlympiccompetition,muchmoremustbeknownabouttalentdevelopmentinU.S.athletes.Severallarge-scalestudies(Bloom,1985;Csikszentmihalyi,Rathunde,Whalen,&Wong,1993)ontalentdevelopmentacrossavarietyofdomains(music,art,science,sport)showthathelpingindividualsdeveloptheirabilitiesisnotjustaprocessofidentifyingtalentedpeopleorprovidingthenwithfinancialsupport.Toturntalentintoactualachievements,talentedindividualsmustdevelopspecificpsychologicalskills,orientations,andhabitsandhavetheopportunitytodeveloptheirmentalandphysicalskillsinsupportiveenvironmentscomprisedofsignificantotherswhoprovidevarioustypesofsupport.However,fewstudiestodatehavebeenconductedontalentdevelopmentineliteathletes,especiallyOlympicchampions.Aneed,then,existedtobetterunderstandthepsychologicalcharacteristicsofOlympicchampionsandhowtheydevelopedthesetalents.ProjectPurposeThisstudywasdesignedtoexaminetheprocessofpsychologicaltalentdevelopmentinOlympicchampionsbyfirstidentifyingthepsychologicaltalentsoftheseoutstandingperformersandthendeterminingwhatindividuals/institutions,andstrategiesinfluencedthedevelopmentofthesetalents.Particularemphasiswasplacedonidentifyingparentingandcoachingpracticesperceivedtohaveinfluencedpsychologicaltalentdevelopment,especiallyastheypertainedtoBloom’s(1985)threephasesoftheeliteathlete’scareer.HowWastheStudyConducted?TencurrentorformerU.S.Olympicchampionswithoutstandingperformancestookpartinin-depthinterviews,aswereoneoftheircoaches(n=10),andaparent,guardian,orsignificantother(n=10).TheseathleteshadcompetedinoneormoreOlympicGamesandhadanaverageof2.4OlympicGameseach(range1to4).TheywerechosenbasedonananalysisofOlympicGamesperformancerecordsandparticipantavailability.Betweenthem,theseathleteshadwon32Olympicmedals(28gold,3silver,and1bronze),withanaverageof3.2Olympicmedalsperparticipant(range1to5).Questionsfocusedonthepsychologicalandemotionalattributesoftheathlete,theprocessbywhichtheseattributesdeveloped,andtheculturesupportinghisorherpsychologicaltalentdevelopment.Abatteryofpsychologicalinventories(traitanxiety,hardiness,perfectionism,optimism,traithope,sportmotivation,taskandegogoalorientation,psychologicalskillsandstrategies,coping)wasalsoadministeredtoeachathletetoidentifyhisorherpsychologicalstrengths.Allinterviewsweretaperecorded,transcribedverbatim,andthencontentanalyzedbythreeinvestigators.Specifically,eachinvestigatorstudiedtapesoftheinterviewsandreadandrereadverbatimtranscripts.Rawthemes(quotesorparaphrasedquotesrepresentingameaningfulpointorthought)wereindividuallyidentifiedandconsensuallyvalidatedin300hoursofgroupmeetingswiththethreeinvestigatorspresent.Rawthemeswerethenorganizedintopatternsoflikeresponsesinthedate(e.g.,“confidencetotrynewthings,”“believedinself,”“neverdoubtedself”),andasummarylabelforthecategorywasdetermined(self-confidence).Athlete,coach,andparentresponsesweresummarizedforeachmedalwinner,andanintegratedprofileofeachcasewascomprised.Additionally,descriptivestatisticswereusedtoexaminethequantitativedataobtainedfromthebatteryofpsychologicalinventoriesadministeredtotheparticipatingathletes.Psychologicalstrengthsandlimitationsweredeterminedbyexaminingthemagnitudeoftheparticipant’sownresponsesonthepsychologicalinstrumentsadministered.Incaseswhereeliteathletenormsexist(e.g.,TOPS),participantscoreswerecomparedtoexistingnormsforeliteathletes.Resultswerealsocomparedwithfindingsfromotherstudiesthatassessedeliteathletes.MajorFindingsCharacteristicsofChampionsAfteranextensivereviewoftheliterature,WilliamsandKrane(2001)identifiedanumberofpsychologicalcharacteristicsofhighlysuccessfulathletes,aswellasthementalskillstheseathletesusedtoachieveoptimalpsychologicalstates.Characteristicsincludedself-regulationofarousal,highconfidence,betterconcentrationandfocus,anincontrolbutnotforcingitattitude,positiveimageryandself-talk,andhighdeterminationandcommitment.Skillsusedtoachievepeakpsychologicalstatesincludedimagery,goalsetting,thoughtcontrolstrategies,arousalmanagement,well-developedcompetitionplans,well-developedcopingstrategies,andpre-competitivementalpreparationplans.ThequantitativeandqualitativeresultscollectedwiththeseOlympicchampionsparalleledthese