Cultural Sport Psychology and Elite Sport in Singapore: An Exploration of Identity and Practice

Description

This book explores the psychosocial issues surrounding elite sport and psychological practice in Singapore. It presents a blueprint to any researcher, national institute, or practitioner, to systematically explore the culture and context within which they operate and organise action plans to address needs identified through this process. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Figures Tables Contributors Introduction Background What is This Book About? Structure of This Book References 1. What we Know and Where we are Going: The Trajectory of Cultural Sport Psychology 1.1 What is Sport Psychology? 1.2 Role(s), Responsibilities, and Competency 1.3 The Context of Practice 1.4 An Emphasis on Culture 1.5 Understanding Cultural Sport Psychology 1.6 Culture of Sport and Exercise Psychology 1.7 Paradigm Wars to Sport Psychology 1.8 The Singapore Scene 1.9 Rationale and Objectives of this Book 1.10 Summary References 2. A Perfectly Imperfect Process: Methodology and Mixed-Methods Part I 2.1 Philosophical Assumptions and Reflexivity 2.2 On Mixed-Methods 2.3 Qualitative Participants 2.4 The Interviews 2.5 Thematic Analysis 2.6 Judgement and Criteria 2.7 Representation 2.8 Ethical Considerations 2.9 Summary References 3. History, Politics, and the Place of Elite Sport 3.1 Value of Sport 3.1.1 A sporting nation 3.1.2 Public perceptions 3.1.3 Return on investment 3.2 Surviving in Singapore 3.2.1 Practical Singaporean 3.2.2 The Singapore "ceiling" 3.3 Summary References 4. A Distorted Elite Ecosystem 4.1 Support Infrastructure 4.1.1 Financing excellence 4.1.2 Organisational efficacy 4.2 Just an Athlete 4.2.1 The ideal athlete 4.2.2 Hidden pressures 4.2.3 Athlete lifespan 4.3 Summary References 5. Confounding Perceptions of Applied Sport Psychology 5.1 Subjectivity of Psychology 5.1.1 Omniscience 5.1.2 General misconceptions 5.2 Industry Ramifications 5.2.1 Psychological pill 5.2.2 Territory encroachment 5.3 Summary References 6. Advancing the Practice of Sport Psychology 6.1 Clarifying the Profession 6.1.1 The "right" people 6.1.2 Engineering professional integrity 6.2 Relationship Foundations 6.2.1 Re-examining collaboration 6.2.2 Coaches as gatekeepers 6.3 Summary References 7. The Quantification of Qualitative Information: Methodology and Mixed-Methods Part II 7.1 Quantitative Sample 7.2 Questionnaires 7.3 Factor Analysis 7.4 Exploratory Factor Analyses 7.4.1 Preliminary analyses 7.4.2 Main analyses 7.5 Confirmatory Factor Analyses 7.5.1 Data analysis guidelines 7.5.2 Preliminary analyses 7.5.3 Main analyses 7.6 Differences According to Gender and Level of Sport Involvement 7.7 Validity and Reliability 7.8 Summary References 8. Data Visualisation of Quantitative Findings: Infusing Statistics with Emotion 8.1 Basis for Data Visualisation 8.2 Singapore Sports Culture Questionnaire 8.2.1 Sport organisations and their support 8.2.2 Perceptions of sport 8.2.3 Being an athlete in Singapore 8.2.4 Singapore's outcome-driven environment 8.3 Singapore Sport Psychology Questionnaire 8.3.1 Perceptions of sport psychology 8.3.2 Professionalism of sport psychologists 8.3.3 Sport stakeholders and psychologists 8.3.4 Application of sport psychology 8.4 Summary References 9. Conclusion: Moving Elite Sport and Psychology Forward 9.1 Empirical Contributions 9.1.1 A recreational sporting culture 9.1.2 The precarious position of elite sport 9.1.3 Stagnation of sport psychology 9.2 Methodological Contributions 9.2.1 Sociocultural specific strategies 9.2.2 Communication and accessibility 9.3 Practical Implications 9.3.1 Focusing on the system 9.3.2 Regulating psychological practice 9.3.3 Establishing a professional community 9.3.4 Building trust and rapport 9.4 Concluding Thoughts and Future Possibilities References Appendix Appendix A Interview Guide Section One Section Two Section Three Section Four Appendix B EFA Questionnaires Appendix C CFA Questionnaires Appendix D Final 29-Item SSCQ Appendix E Final 26-Item SSPQ Index