Psychological Variables Relative to Winning Positions - Essay Example

? Reporting Research Results Question Set a: Differences between the performances of top athletes are often so marginal, that their finishing positions seem to be affected by random factors. It is believed that slight differences in performance may be attributable to the athlete’s pre-existing mental experiences. The study in question attempts to evaluate whether athletes who receive the first, second or third place in a sporting event differ with respect to cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety and self-confidence. It is expected that the first place winners should show lower levels of anxiety and higher self confidence. Given that there are three dependent variables that are known to interact with each other (Bandura, 1989); the MANOVA was chosen as the ideal test of analysis. The MANOVA is best used when the dependent variables are moderately correlated; and are liable to affect each other. The omnibus test ensures that there is reduced chance of a Type I error by taking shared covariance of dependent variables into account. The null and alternative hypotheses postulated for this study are: Null Hypothesis 1: There is no significant difference in the mean cognitive anxiety between the winning positions. Alternative Hypothesis 1: There is a significant difference in the mean cognitive anxiety between the three winning positions. Null Hypothesis 2: There is no significant difference in the mean somatic anxiety between the three winning positions. Alternative Hypothesis 2: There is a significant difference in the mean somatic anxiety between the three winning positions. Null Hypothesis 3: There is no significant difference in the mean self confidence between the three winning positions. Alternative Hypothesis 3: There is a significant difference in the mean self confidence between the three winning positions. Data was collected from 83 athletes of both genders (40 male and 43 female participants) within the age range of 18 to 43 years. The participants were not evenly distributed across the three categories; and data was available on 36 first place holders, 29 second place holders and 18 third place holders. The mean scores, standard deviations and Standard error are noted in Table 1.1 Table 1.1 Descriptive Statistics of Psychological Variables Relative to Winning Positions Dependent Variables Wining Position N Mean SD SE Cognitive Anxiety 1 36 24.17 5.316 0.886 2 29 22.93 6.035 1.121 3 18 24.11 5.040 1.188 Total 83 23.72 5.487 0.602 Somatic Anxiety 1 36 23.56 6.068 1.011 2 29 22.69 6.077 1.129 3 18 23.28 6.515 1.536 Total 83 23.19 6.106 0.670 Self Confidence 1 36 22.61 4.777 0.796 2 29 19.17 4.489 0.834 3 18 18.67 3.970 0.936 Total 83 20.55 4.817 0.529 The data was analyzed using MANOVA, and was tested using all four tests. The F value using the Wilks' lambda was 3.488 which was significant beyond the 0.01 level of significance [Wilks' = 0.777; F (6,156) = 3.488; p Read More