Sports psychology deals with the preservation of athletes’ mental health and assistance with reaching the psychological conditions necessary for optimal performance. American Psychological Association (APA) defines sports psychology as “the scientific study of the psychological factors that are associated with participation and performance in sport” (as cited in Helms & Rogers, 2015, p. 266).
In this regard, one can consider sports psychology a two-pronged discipline. On the one hand, sports psychologists research interventions aimed at helping individual athletes and teams withstand mental pressure and beat the competition. On the other hand, sports psychology studies how sport contributes to an individual’s general psychological condition and mental well-being. These goals make jobs and research in sports psychology lucrative to me. The subfield of health psychology is wider than sports psychology since this discipline encompasses a broad selection of areas connecting psychology and an individual’s overall health. In particular, Gurung (2010) divided health psychology into three large areas of study: stress and coping, health behaviors, and issues in health care (as cited in Helms & Rogers, 2015, p. 284). Therefore, one can argue that health psychology has immense importance for patient outcomes. For instance, this subfield may assist healthcare professionals with reinforcing beneficial health behaviors in patients and helping them overcome the stress associated with illness. As such, I consider jobs and research in the health psychology subfield quite interesting to study.
However, I would claim that sports psychology is the most exciting subfield of those we have studied throughout the course. As a sports fan, I have always been amazed and intrigued by how mentality affects results. In my opinion, the mentality is a deciding factor that separates victory from defeat, especially in the elimination formats that put additional pressure on competitors. In this regard, sports psychology acts as a medium that helps channel inner strength, overcome adversity, and succeed against the odds. Overall, I believe this fascinating, almost magical influence, makes sports psychology a worthy discipline for studying, even if a specialist is not involved in the professional sports industry.
Reference
Helms, J., & Rogers, D. (2015). Majoring in psychology: Achieving your educational and career goals. (2nd ed.). Wiley Blackwell