Attachment theory in athletes and coaches

From a practical point of view, a proper understanding of conflict management could offer a resource that provides athletes with an opportunity to enhance their relationship with their coaches especially their awareness of proactive and reactive strategies. Such kind of ideas could lead both coaches and athletes to a broader standpoint and in turn develop strong connections that are capable of generating positive feelings including happiness, interest in training, enthusiasm, and zeal. Keywords: Attachment style, Attachment theory, performance, relationships Introduction Attachment theory offers a broad understanding of interpersonal associations. During the early stages of development, the needs of an individual as well as their identity are closely associated with their attachment style. Attachment style remains constant through the entire life of an individuals and forms the foundation of any future relationships.

”(p. 134) This implies that sports foster the development of numerous associations; nonetheless, it is often the coach-athlete relationship that usually has the most significant influences on factors such as the training process, the outcome of the performances, athlete satisfaction and success because of the intense interaction that involves the nature of the relationship. Most recently National athletics governing organizations and organizations including sports the US and the Department of culture and sports have both recognized the fundamental aspect of coach-athlete association by combining related issues that have been reinforced by anecdotal evidence from athlete themselves in addition to the design of hypothetical models that have offered a wide range of evidence (Rucker, Preacher, Tormala, & Petty, 2011). Attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969/1982) has been used extensively in the realm of social psychology literature, with the effort of examining a number of factors including the quality of relationship, self-esteem, distress and the well-being of an athlete.

In contrast, sports psychology is yet to fully use the concept to develop a better understanding of various contemporary issues in research about this matter. Mageau, & Vallerand, (2003) proposes that the unidirectional standpoint that has long dominated the sports coaching literature is not sufficient as it does not discuss the bi-directional or the interchange that is usually inherent within the relationship between a coach and an athlete. As a result, specific rational models have offered diverse a clear insight into the bi-directional aspect of the coach-athlete relationship. These include Mikulincer, & Shaver, (2007), Wei, M. , Russell, D. W. In line with Preacher, & Hayes, (2004) suggestions, the major theoretical concepts from associated disciplines might be very useful in addressing relational intricacies that lie beneath the relations between coaches and athletes.

Research Design For this, we shall use self-reported questionnaires to determine the attachment functions and style used. The use of self-reported questionnaires is utilized to investigate the style of attachment that can accomplish optimal athletic success as it correlates to the agreed athletic performance evaluation between athlete and coach. The relationship between a coach and an athlete develops the same way as the relationship between a child and parents and is carried through the entire life of sporting. A group of 310 student-athletes represented a wide variety of individuals from different sports such as swimming, athletics, tennis, badminton, hockey, golf, European football, and volleyball. However, they agreed to take part in the study and provide a number of options for analyzing the collected information.

Information from the participants was gathered by the first author while enrolling ng coach education workshops, sports club exercise or competing in various sports events. Once the contact was made with the athletes, the goals and voluntary nature of the study were comprehensively expounded. Upon making contacts with the athletes and the coaches, the objective and voluntary nature of the study was clearly explained (Preacher, & Hayes, 2004). On gaining consent, the participants were given a multi-section questionnaire and ensured of confidentiality and privacy of their answers. The findings indicate that avoidance and anxiety attachment significantly predict the perception of an athlete or a coach in terms of their satisfaction. These findings are in line with conceptual and empirical evidence from various scholars.

It is clear that partnership between an athlete and a coach who were categorized as having an avoidant attachment style experienced less association satisfaction. Moreover, the study shows that we can expect that the current coach-athlete attachment might reduce athlete insecure attachment or avoidance. The attachment style of the athlete will impact the interpersonal relationship between athlete and coach. Other studies could test the generalisability of the results and females athletes. Conclusion In conclusion, athlete-coach attachment are usually influenced by the patterns of perception and quality of relationships by assessing simple athlete-coach dyads. Overall the findings of the research have been consistent with the theoretical assumptions as well as the empirical evidence from previous studies. From the theoretical standpoint, these findings underwrite to the larger attachment concept by offering its uses to yet another form of relational associations known as coach-athlete association.

From the practical point of view, it is evident that avoidance attachment style might be detrimental to the perceived quality of relationship and as such sports and exercise experts need to understand these potential negative impacts. Bowlby, J. Attachment and loss: Vol. Attachment (2nd ed. New York: Basic Books Jackson, B. , & Beauchamp, M. , & Shaver, P. R. Attachment in adulthood: Structure, dynamics, and change. New York: Guilford Press. Preacher, K. Behavior Research Methods, 40, 879-891. Ryan, R. M. , & Deci, E. L. , Preacher, K. J. , Tormala, Z. L. , & Petty, R. M. The relationship between athlete leadership behaviors and cohesion in team sports. The Sports Psychologist, 24(4), 448-467. Wei, M. , Russell, D. L. , & Egeland, B. Continuity, discontinuity, and coherence in attachment from infancy to late adolescence: sequelae of organization and disorganization.