Performance psychology: being the best, the best you can be, or just a little better?

Terry, Peter C. (2008) Performance psychology: being the best, the best you can be, or just a little better? InPsych, 30 (1). pp. 8-11. ISSN 1441-8754

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Abstract

It's getting pretty crowded on the performance psychology bandwagon as more and more practitioners jump on board. For many psychologists looking from the outside, however, the basic questions about the field remain very pertinent and perhaps largely unanswered. What is performance psychology and what do performance psychologists do? Where did it come from and where is it heading? As I sat down to write a supposedly authoritative paper on this specialist area of our profession, I was immediately struck by just how difficult it is to establish the boundaries of performance psychology. Reflecting on my own experiences as a performance specialist over the past 25 years, mainly in the world of international sport, I realised that although the field is ostensibly about the study of factors that either contribute to or impede performance, the list of variables relevant to performance is almost endless. Therefore, to help bring such a diffuse and multi-faceted area into sharper focus I turned to those operating in the field on a daily basis, canvassing the opinions of several prominent Australian and overseas practitioners, which I sought to weave into my own commentary.

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Item Type:	Article (Commonwealth Reporting Category C)
Refereed:	No
Item Status:	Live Archive
Additional Information:	This publication is copyright. It may be reproduced in whole or in part for the purposes of study, research, or review, but is subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgment of the source.
Faculty/School / Institute/Centre:	Historic - Faculty of Sciences - Department of Psychology (Up to 30 Jun 2013)
Faculty/School / Institute/Centre:	Historic - Faculty of Sciences - Department of Psychology (Up to 30 Jun 2013)
Date Deposited:	07 Mar 2008 05:52
Last Modified:	16 Oct 2014 01:31
Uncontrolled Keywords:	performance psychology
Fields of Research (2008):	17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1701 Psychology > 170114 Sport and Exercise Psychology 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1701 Psychology > 170107 Industrial and Organisational Psychology 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1701 Psychology > 170106 Health, Clinical and Counselling Psychology
Fields of Research (2020):	52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5201 Applied and developmental psychology > 520107 Sport and exercise psychology 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5201 Applied and developmental psychology > 520104 Industrial and organisational psychology (incl. human factors) 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5203 Clinical and health psychology > 520399 Clinical and health psychology not elsewhere classified
Socio-Economic Objectives (2008):	E Expanding Knowledge > 97 Expanding Knowledge > 970117 Expanding Knowledge in Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
URI:	http://eprints.usq.edu.au/id/eprint/3949

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