A descriptive study of emotional process during competition: Nature, frequency, direction, duration and co-occurrence of discrete emotions

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to offer a view of emotional process during competition through a naturalistic video-assisted approach. This study provides descriptive evidence relating to the nature, frequency, co-occurrence, duration and direction of all the discrete emotions experienced by athletes while competing. Design: Qualitative video-assisted case study. Methods: Thirty self-confrontation interviews were conducted with national table-tennis players using the videotapes of high-stakes table-tennis matches. Quantitative analyses of interview texts (i.e., qualitative data of interviews transcribed verbatim) allowed us to extract the following quantitative variables: (a) nature, (b) frequency, (c) duration, (d) co-occurrence, and (e) direction of emotions. Results: Quantitative analyses of participants’ transcriptions revealed the presence of twelve discrete emotions (self-, otherand thing-oriented anger, anxiety, discouragement, disappointment, disgust, joy, serenity, relief, pride, and hope), for a total of 861 single-point and 177 multiple-point emotions. Differences on the frequency, direction, duration and co-occurrence of emotions have been highlighted with regards to the nature of emotions. Differences on the nature, frequency, co-occurrence and direction have also been highlighted with regards to the emotions’ duration. Conclusions: The predominant focus in sport psychology has been on pre-performance emotions, with far less attention paid to the emotions experienced by athletes during competition. Support was provided for the notion of emotional blend and for the assessment of real proportions of discrete emotions and emotions’ direction during competition. 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Investigations on the concept of emotion in sport settings have mainly studied pre-competitive anxiety (Cerin, Szabo, Hunt, & Williams, 2000; Hanin, 2000; Jones, 1995; Mellalieu, Hanton, & Fletcher, 2006). This strong reliance on anxiety is problematic since athletes’ emotional experiences can not be accurately described in terms of presence or lack of anxiety (Cerin, 2003; Jones & Hanton, 2001). In addition, although emotions are constantly modified during sport competition through the process of cognitive appraisal (Cerin et al., 2000; Lazarus, 1999, 2000), few studies were designed to investigate the discrete emotions (e.g., anger, discouragement, joy, relief) actually experienced by athletes while competing (e.g., Gould, 2000; Jones, Mace, & Williams, 2000; Martinent & Ferrand, 2009; Robazza, Bortoli, & Nougier, 1999; Sève, Ria, Poizat, Saury, & Durand, 2007). Determining the nature of all the discrete emotions experienced during competition, their frequency as well as their perceived enhancing or impairing effects on sport performance is crucial for providing an accurate description of athletes’ emotional process while competing. These data could help coach and sport psychologist in assisting athletes to cope with their emotions actually experienced while competing. Using Lazarus’s (1999, 2000) cognitive-motivational-relational theory of emotion, discrete emotion is conceptualised as an unfolding process reflecting personeenvironment relationships. Without the continuation of appraising, which contains motivational (e.g., person’s goals, goal hierarchy) as well as cognitive (e.g., personal resources, environmental factors) contents, emotion disappears or changes, and the relational meaning is distinctive for each discrete emotion (Lazarus, 1999, 2000). Thus, to explore the emotional process during competition, it must be studied in its ecological situation and in close relationship with the judgements * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ33 4 72 43 28 38; fax: þ33 4 72 43 28 46. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (G. Martinent), [email protected] (M. Campo), [email protected] (C. Ferrand). 1 Tel.: þ33 4 72 43 28 38; fax: þ33 4 72 43 28 46. 2 Tel.: þ33 2 47 36 65 51; fax: þ33 2 47 36 64 84.