A Naturalistic Study of the Directional Interpretation ... - Fitness for Life

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Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 2009, 31, 318-336 © 2009 Human Kinetics, Inc.

A Naturalistic Study of the Directional Interpretation Process of Discrete Emotions During High-Stakes Table Tennis Matches Guillaume Martinent and Claude Ferrand Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 The purpose of this study was to explore the directional interpretation process of discrete emotions experienced by table tennis players during competitive matches by adopting a naturalistic qualitative video-assisted approach. Thirty self-confrontation interviews were conducted with 11 national table tennis players (2 or 3 matches per participants). Nine discrete emotions were identified through the inductive analyses of the participants’ transcriptions: anger, anxiety, discouragement, disappointment, disgust, joy, serenity, relief, and hope. Inductive analyses revealed the emergence of 4 categories and 13 themes among the 9 discrete emotions: positive direction (increased concentration, increased motivation, increased confidence, positive sensations, and adaptive behaviors), negative direction (decreased concentration, decreased motivation, too confident, decreased confidence, negative sensations, and maladaptive behaviors), neutral direction (take more risk and take less risk), and no perceived influence on own performance. Results are discussed in terms of current research on directional interpretation and emotions in sport.

Keywords: emotions, direction, table tennis, performance, qualitative

Research has consistently shown that sporting experience is characterized by many positive (e.g., joy, hope) and negative (e.g., anxiety, disappointment) emotions before and during competition (Hanin, 2000a, 2007; Jones, 2003; Lazarus, 2000; Pensgaard & Duda, 2003; Sève, Ria, Poizat, Saury, & Durand, 2007; Skinner & Brewer, 2004). Positive and negative emotions play a role in performance variability, by facilitating or impairing athletes’ performance (Hanin, 2000b, 2007; Jones, 2003; Pensgaard & Duda, 2003; Vallerand & Blanchard, 2000). The present study explores the perceived influence of discrete emotions experienced by national table tennis players during competition on sport performance by adopting a naturalistic video-assisted approach. Using Lazarus’s (1999, 2000) Martinent is with the Centre de Recherche et d’Innovation sur le Sport, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France. Ferrand is with the Centre de Recherche et d’Innovation sur le sport, Université de Lyon—Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Villeurbanne France. 318

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cognitive-motivational-relational theory of emotion, discrete emotion is defined as an organized psychophysiological reaction (e.g., subjective experience, facial expression, cognitive processing, physiological changes) to ongoing relationships with the environment. In this perspective, self-confidence—classified by some authors as an emotion (Sève et al., 2007)—is a cognitive component accompanying discrete emotions and not an emotion per se. Although the relationship between discrete emotions and performance has been examined within the sport literature (Hanin, 2000b, Lazarus, 2000; Pensgaard & Duda, 2003), most studies have focused on the effects of anxiety on performance (Cerin, 2003; Cerin, Szabo, Hunt, & Williams, 2000; Jones, 1995; Mellalieu, Hanton, & Fletcher, 2006). This reliance on anxiety is problematic because athletes’ emotional experiences cannot be accurately described by the presence or lack of anxiety (Cerin, 2003). It is unclear how emotions other than anxiety may affect performance through their impact on execution of motor skills and perceptual processes. For example, although anxiety has been associated with attentional narrowing, positive emotions have been suggested to broaden people’s momentary scope of attention (Fredrickson & Branigan, 2005). Most investigations on the emotion-performance relationship have examined the influence of precompetitive emotions on sport performance (Cerin et al.,. 2000; Hanin, 2000b; Jones, 1995; Mellalieu et al., 2006). To our knowledge, few studies have investigated discrete emotions experienced or their influence on performance during competition (Jones, Mace, & Williams, 2000; Robazza, Bortoli, & Nougier, 1999; Sève et al., 2007). Several authors (Cerin et al., 2000; Hanin, 2007; Sève et al., 2007) have recently stressed the importance of conducting such studies since emotions are constantly modified through the process of cognitive appraisal (Lazarus, 1999, 2000), and the relationship between emotions and performance changes over time and needs to be examined at intraindividual level (Cerin et al., 2000; Lazarus, 2000). Several authors suggested that qualitative methods, such as video-assisted self-confrontation interviews, could provide valid and reliable information on discrete emotions and their relationships with performance during competition (Hanin, 2003, 2007; Lazarus, 1999; Sève et al., 2007). Qualitative studies might provide descriptive evidence about the nature of the emotion-performance relationship and the underlying mechanisms by which emotions might influence sport performance (Hanin, 2003, 2007; Lazarus, 1999, 2000). The notion of directional interpretation of emotions has been a significant advance in the understanding of the relationship between emotions and performance (Cerin, 2003; Cerin et al., 2000; Jones, 1995; Mellalieu et al., 2006; Robazza & Bortoli, 2007). The direction of emotions refers to the athletes’ perceived beneficial (facilitating) or harmful (debilitating) effects of their emotions on their performance (Jones, 1995; Skinner & Brewer, 2004). Jones and Swain (1992) modified the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2; Martens, Burton, Vealey, Bump, & Smith, 1990) by adding a scale measuring the directional interpretation of competitive anxiety. Much research has investigated the direction of anxiety to understand the effects of anxiety on performance variability (Jones, 1995; Mellalieu et al., 2006). These studies have consistently shown that anxiety direction could be discriminated by numerous personal and situational variables, and is a better predictor of performance than anxiety intensity (Jones, 1995; Mel-

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lalieu et al., 2006). Despite these advances, and although the scale of Jones and Swain (1992) has been recently extended to measure direction of emotions other than anxiety (anger), few studies have explored the directional interpretation of positive and negative discrete emotions (Cerin, 2003; Pensgaard & Duda, 2003, Robazza & Bortoli, 2007). Although athletes can interpret both positive and negative discrete emotions as beneficial and/or harmful for performance (Cerin et al., 2000; Hanin, 2000b), investigations have mostly been unsuccessful in explaining why they perceive their discrete emotions to be facilitating or debilitating (Pensgaard & Duda, 2003). Maintaining facilitative interpretations of emotions during competition is, however, considered by several researchers and sport psychologists (e.g., Jones, 1995; Mellalieu et al., 2006) as one of the most important qualities that competitive athletes need to develop. Identifying and understanding why athletes perceive their discrete emotions as beneficial or harmful may provide a deeper understanding of the emotion-performance relationship (i.e., underlying mechanisms explaining the impact of emotions on performance) leading to effective interventions to assist athletes in maintaining facilitative perceptions of their discrete emotions during competition (Hanton & Jones, 1999). Traditional quantitative investigations have yielded few explanations for the athletes’ personal meaning of the emotions’ direction. Recent advancements have been made by adopting qualitative methods (Hanton & Connaughton, 2002; Hanton, Mellalieu, & Hall, 2004; Hanton, Mellalieu, & Young, 2002). These studies highlighted the importance of motivation, focus, and concentration in athletes’ perceptions of the facilitating and/or debilitating effects of anxiety on performance. However, studies by Hanton and his collaborators (Hanton & Connaughton, 2002; Hanton et al., 2002, 2004) investigated exclusively precompetitive anxiety, thus excluding the possibility to identify and understand why athletes perceive positive and negative discrete emotions as beneficial or harmful for sport performance during competition. The purpose of the current study, therefore, was to explore the directional interpretation process of discrete emotions experienced by national table tennis players during competitive matches by adopting a naturalistic video-assisted approach. We choose the sport of table tennis because (a) the limited play surface area allows recording of the actions and movements of both players, (b) the relatively short duration of matches allows an analysis of the matches in their entirety, and (c) time-outs between each point facilitate the comments of the participants during the interviews (Sève et al., 2007).

Method Participants Eleven French national male table tennis players (M = 23.82 years, SD = 5.74) competing at national level were invited to participate in this study. They had played in 15 or more competitions during the table tennis season, and had played table tennis from 8 to 17 years (M = 12.45, SD = 2.88). The players were given pseudonyms to provide anonymity even if they did not ask to remain anonymous.

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Procedure Permission to conduct the study was granted by the University Human Research Ethics Committee. The players’ directional interpretation process of discrete emotions was studied in 30 matches (i.e., two or three matches per participant), which lasted between 13 and 37 min (M = 23.67, SD = 5.27). Participants won 16 matches and lost 14 matches (1260 points won and 1343 points lost). They played 18 matches against opponents with better ranking and 12 matches against opponents with lower ranking than theirs. They were asked to select matches in which the competitive stakes were high because previous research has shown that emotions are probably more intense when highly valued goals are at stake (Lazarus, 1999; Uphill & Jones, 2007).

Data Collection Data were gathered from continuous video recordings of the players’ actions during the matches and qualitative data of self-confrontation interviews. The camera (positioned above and behind the table) recorded continuously the umpire, the scoreboard, and the movement of both players. The qualitative data were obtained during self-confrontation interviews (M = 102.17 min, SD = 19.31) conducted after the matches, depending on the players’ availability (M = 2.37 days, SD = 1.54). The strengths of qualitative inquiry rest upon trust and rapport between the researcher and those being researched (Patton, 1990; Strauss & Corbin, 1998). As part of this process, the author had already conducted interviews of this type in previous studies. He explained the nature of the interview process and the handling of qualitative data to the participants (e.g., purpose of the study, reasons for audio taping the interview, issues of confidentiality) (Patton, 1990). Other factors also ensured that the interviews were conducted in an atmosphere of trust between participants and researcher. The first author conducted the interviews, was a table tennis player at national level (i.e., common culture shared between interviewer and interviewee), and was not involved in training and selection of the participants (Sève et al., 2007). Players were informed that they could withdraw at anytime without penalty and their responses would be kept confidential (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). The technique used for recalling emotions was based on the interview techniques of stimulated recall (Sève et al., 2007; Trudel, Haughian, & Gilbert, 1996; von Cranach & Harré, 1982). These interview techniques consist of confronting the participant with his or her activity in a particular situation. As the participant viewed the videotape of the match with the researcher, he was invited to recall and describe what emotions he was personally experiencing during the match and the perceived effects of his emotions upon his performance. The researcher urged the participants to simply describe the events, emotions, and direction of emotions and avoided requests for generalization (Sève et al., 2007; Trudel et al., 1996). The interviewer’s prompts were designed to collect the nature of the discrete emotions experienced (e.g., What do you feel at this moment?) and athletes’ directional interpretation of emotions (e.g., Do you think that this emotion affects your performance? or How is your performance affected by this emotion?). Prompts

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concerned only the players’ action or emotion during the match, with no justifications sought (Sève et al., 2007; Trudel et al., 1996). For example, when the player commented on an emotion or direction of emotion, the researcher’s questions and remarks were exclusively concerned with the events that caused him to experience this emotion or with the aspects of the situation that he had taken into account to interpret this emotion as facilitating or debilitating, without asking him to justify his choice or if he would have experienced the same emotion and interpreted this emotion in a similar manner at another moment of the match. During the interviews, either viewer could stop the tape and backtrack at any time. The players spontaneously stopped the videotape after each point. They also occasionally stopped it during a point or rewound it to comment on a particular event of the play.

Data Analysis Interviews were transcribed verbatim and subjected to inductive content analysis (Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Patton, 1990; Strauss & Corbin, 1998). To refamiliarize the researcher with the participant and to note verbal inflections, emphases, or affective cues not evident on the transcript, each videotape of the match was viewed while the corresponding interview was played on audiotape. After, the two authors independently performed an inductive, line-by-line analysis to identify and code elementary units of meaning (EUMs), representing single and recognizable aspects of the participant’s experience (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). Regarding the players’ directional interpretation process, 2635 EUMs were identified. Then the analyses were conducted separately for each of the discrete emotions that were identified through the participants’ transcriptions: anger, anxiety, discouragement, disgust, disappointment, joy, serenity, relief, and hope. Using the constant comparative method (Strauss & Corbin, 1998), all EUMs were clustered according to their thematic similarities into emergent subthemes (Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Patton, 1990). The aim of the clustering process was to unite quotes with similar meaning and separate quotes with different meanings (Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Strauss & Corbin, 1998). The clustering process was repeated until all EUMs of all transcripts were organized according to their emergent subthemes. The overall thematic hierarchies were thus under constant revision through the analyses (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). The subthemes were then grouped according to their own thematic similarities into themes. This process continued until no further emergent themes and categories could be extracted (Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Patton, 1990). In sum, qualitative analyses provided a thematic hierarchy with several levels of abstraction by discrete emotion identified through the analyses.

Issues of Trustworthiness All aspects of the content analyses were consensually validated (Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Patton, 1990; Strauss & Corbin, 1998). First, after the independent coding of interview texts, frequent discussions between the two researchers were undertaken to discuss cases where alternative explanations (i.e., meaning of EUMs) and categorizations may have been possible, allowing the researchers to come to

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agreement on the coding of all the EUMs, subthemes, themes, and categories (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Second, peer-debriefing—during research group meetings with a researcher trained in qualitative methods and unaffiliated with this study—provided a means of cross-validation, ensured that the authors’ categorizations were understandable and explicable, helped the authors to think about the emergent thematic hierarchies in an increasingly more complex manner, and kept their interpretations close to the data (Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Strauss & Corbin, 1998). Third, results were presented to participants and the thematic hierarchies and the adequacy of labeling subthemes, themes, and categories were discussed. They confirmed that what they had lived was reflected in the hierarchical content analyses. Fourth, the translation of the quotes from French to English, respecting the state of mind of the participants, was checked by a native English speaker.

Results Overviews of the categories developed describing directional interpretation processes of discrete emotions (anger, anxiety, discouragement, disappointment, disgust, joy, serenity, relief, and hope) are presented in Figures 1, 2, and 3. The analyses resulted in four categories labeled positive direction, negative direction, neutral direction (i.e., emotion influenced performance but this influence was neither facilitating nor debilitating), no perceived influence upon his performance. The following discussion will elaborate on these categories developed while making frequent connections with the discrete emotions the players discussed.

Positive Direction (986 EUMs, 37,42%) Participants reported interpreting certain discrete emotions (i.e., joy, relief, hope, serenity, anger, anxiety, and discouragement) as facilitating regarding their performance. Repartitions of EUMs regarding the categories positive direction and negative direction for each of the discrete emotions experienced by players are presented in Table 1. Positive direction was categorized into five themes labeled increased concentration, increased motivation, increased confidence, positive sensations, and adaptive behaviors. Participants often mentioned that their emotions were facilitating since they allowed them to increase their efforts to focus on their matches. Indeed, players stated that the emotions they experienced often permitted them to attain a high level of concentration, watchfulness, and/or attention (subtheme more focused) (i.e., anger, anxiety, joy, hope and serenity), to think efficiently over their strokes for the next point (subtheme more reflected) (i.e., anxiety), to be more applied on their actions (subtheme more applied) (i.e., anxiety, anger and serenity), and/or to anticipate and think automatically over their strokes and actions for the next point (subtheme anticipate what will happen) (i.e., serenity). The following quotation from Martin, who felt serene, illustrates the theme increased concentration: “I think only to play. I think of what I must do and then I try to do it. So, this state of serenity influences me positively. It helps me to be really focused on the match.” Other players reported that their emotions (i.e., anger, anxiety, joy, hope, and serenity) could facilitate their performance by increasing their motivation, as illustrated by the following quotation from Edouard, who experienced anger:

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Figure 1 — Hierarchical content analyses of the directional interpretation processes of anger and anxiety. Note. *Participants have experienced one or more anger in 30 matches. **The subtheme more focused has been mentioned by three participants in three matches and is comprised of 6 EUMs.

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Figure 2 — Hierarchical content analyses of the directional interpretation processes of joy and discouragement.

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Figure 3 — Hierarchical content analyses of the directional interpretation processes of relief, serenity, hope, disappointment, and disgust.

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Facilitative emotions anger (22) anxiety (33) discouragement (1) negative emotions (56) joy (114) serenity (25) relief (1) hope (6) positive emotions (146) All the emotions (202) Debilitative emotions anger (59) anxiety (64) discouragement (38) disappointment (1) disgust (3) negative emotions (165) 57 (74.02%) 119 (35.63%) 0 (0.00%) 176 (40.00%) 20 (8.51%) 6 (2.22%) 0 (0.00%) 26 (70.27%) 52 (9.52%) 228 (23.12%) 39 (11.50%) 5 (0.60%) 173 (54.92%) 0 (0.00%) 0 (0.00%) 217 (14.45%)

10 (12.99%) 162 (48.50%) 0 (0.00%) 172 (39.09%) 3 (1.28%) 16 (5.93%) 0 (0.00%) 6 (16.22%) 25 (4.58%) 197 (19.98%)

143 (42.18%) 144 (17.25%) 70 (22.22%) 3 (100.00%) 6 (60.00%) 366 (24.37%)

3 (0.89%) 0 (0.00%) 0 (0.00%) 0 (0.00%) 0 (0.00%) 3 (0.20%)

0 (0.00%) 0 (0.00%) 0 (0.00%) 0 (0.00%) 184 (78.30%) 13 (4.81%) 0 (0.00%) 0 (0.00%) 197 (36.08%) 197 (19.98%)

49 (14.46%) 580 (69.46%) 6 (1.90%) 0 (0.00%) 0 (0.00%) 635 (42.28%)

3 (3.90%) 3 (0.90%) 6 (20.69%) 12 (2.73%) 11 (4.68%) 134 (49.63%) 1 (25.00%) 3 (8.11%) 149 (27.29%) 161 (16.33%)

(continued)

105 (30.97%) 106 (12.69%) 66 (20.95%) 0 (0.00%) 4 (40.00%) 281 (18.71%)

7 (9.09%) 50 (14.97%) 23 (79.31%) 80 (18.18%) 17 (7.23%) 101 (37.41%) 3 (75.00%) 2 (5.41%) 123 (22.53%) 203 (20.59%)

N EUMs (percentage) N EUMs (percentage) N EUMs (percentage) N EUMs (percentage) N EUMs (percentage)

Adaptive/maladaptive Behaviors

(Number of emotions)

Positive/negative Sensations

Increased/decreased Increased/decreased Increased/decreased Concentration Motivation Confidence or too confident

Nature of emotions

Table 1  Repartitions of Elementary Units of Meaning (EUMs) Regarding the Categories Positive Direction and Negative Direction for Each Discrete Emotions Experienced by Players During Competition

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Increased/decreased Increased/decreased Increased/decreased Concentration Motivation Confidence or too confident

Positive/negative Sensations

Adaptive/maladaptive Behaviors

(Number of N EUMs (percentage) N EUMs (percentage) N EUMs (percentage) N EUMs (percentage) N EUMs (percentage) emotions) joy (3) 0 (0.00%) 0 (0.00%) 1 (11.11%) 3 (33.33%) 5 (55.56%) serenity (1) 6 (35.29%) 1 (5.88%) 6 (35.29%) 0 (0.00%) 4 (23.53%) hope (2) 3 (100.00%) 0 (0.00%) 0 (0.00%) 0 (0.00%) 0 (0.00%) positive emotions (8) 8 (28.57%) 1 (3.57%) 7 (25.00%) 3 (10.71%) 9 (32.14%) All the emotions (173) 374 (24.44%) 218 (14.25%) 10 (0.65%) 638 (41.70%) 290 (18.95%)

Nature of emotions

Table 1 (continued)

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“Here, I tell myself you want to play at that. OK, I will beat you. So, it’s a positive anger. Because it motivates me. I tell myself, you will see, I will beat you. In fact, it is a little revenge.” Some players explained that their emotions (i.e., joy and serenity) were beneficial because they could increase their confidence for the next point. As an illustration, Fabien experienced joy because he won a point based on numerous rallies and this led to greater self-confidence: “I am more self-confident. Moreover, I really need that. Because, since the beginning of the set, I was not feeling good. This point really does me good. Now, I am more confident for the following set.” Other players mentioned that some emotions were beneficial since they allowed them to feel positive sensations and/or to be comfortable. Specifically, participants stated that their emotions permitted them to feel more relaxed, to be more comfortable in their gesture and movement (subtheme better gesture), and to feel physically well and/or to be more comfortable in their displacement (subtheme feel physically better). As an illustration, Albert experienced joy because he won a point in which he played well. He explained that this point allowed him to be more relaxed as illustrated in the following sentence: “I will be more relaxed because I am joyful. It’s always better to feel relaxed than stressed.” Finally, some participants mentioned that they interpreted their emotions as beneficial because their emotions could enable them to behave adaptively to the characteristics of the situation. For example, because the emotions the participants felt influenced them to take more risk with a technical stroke and/or a ball placement, they were perceived as having a facilitating effect. This facilitating interpretation of emotions (subtheme take more risk) can be evidenced in the following quotation from Laurent, who experienced anxiety: “It’s a positive influence because I will be more offensive on the next point. I know that it’s better attacking to win the point than waiting and doing nothing. It’s my anxiety that obliges me to attack the ball on the next point. Because I know that if I don’t attack, I will be too passive and blocked up by my anxiety.” In contrast, because some emotions influenced the participants to take fewer risks during the next point, this was sometimes perceived as having a facilitating effect on their performance, as illustrated by the following quotation from Fabien, who felt anxious: “Because I feel anxious, I will wait instead of taking too much risk. But it’s a positive influence because I am not self-confident. So I will not take too much risk because I know that I will make too many mistakes.”

Negative Direction (1531 EUMs, 58,10%) Participants reported interpreting certain discrete emotions (i.e., joy, serenity, hope, anger, anxiety, discouragement, disappointment, and disgust) as debilitating regarding their upcoming performance (see Table 1 for EUMs repartition). Negative direction was categorized into six themes: decreased concentration, decreased motivation, too confident, decreased confidence, negative sensations, and maladaptive behaviors. Players often perceived some emotions as debilitative because they prevented them from focusing on their matches. Specifically, participants stated that they felt debilitative emotions that could prevent them from attaining a high level of concentration, watchfulness, and/or attention (subtheme loss of concentration) (i.e.,

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anger, anxiety, discouragement, hope, disappointment, disgust, and serenity), to plan future actions for the following points (subtheme loss of reflection) (i.e., anger, anxiety and discouragement), to be lucid and/or to make good choices about technical strokes or ball placement (subtheme loss of lucidness) (i.e., anger, anxiety, discouragement, disgust and serenity). The following quotation from Fabien, who experienced anger, illustrates the theme decreased concentration: “I don’t regulate my anger efficiently. It’s why I am not efficiently focused on the match. I think of something else. Consequently, I don’t think over enough. So, it will influence me negatively on the game. I don’t feel good. I am not focused enough.” Guy experienced serenity because he played well and he explained why he perceived this serenity as debilitating: “Here, it’s clear that I lose my lucidness. It’s clear that I am too serene. It’s not good because I am not focused enough on my match. . . . I look at the match in side. That is obvious with regard to my state of waiting for the service. I am stiff. I am not ready to play the next point. It’s clear that I am too serene and that I am not really focused on my match.” Players also mentioned perceiving some emotions (i.e., anger, anxiety, discouragement, and serenity) as harmful because they decreased their motivation, as illustrated by the following quotation from Julien, who felt discouraged: “I play because I must play. But here, I play without motivation, without engagement to win the set. 5-1, I don’t play well. It’s clear I have almost forsaken this set.” Some players mentioned experiencing debilitative emotions which decreased their level of self-confidence too much or, in contrast, caused them to feel too confident about the characteristics of the situation. As an illustration, Martin experienced anger because he lost a point in which he made a mistake that he had already made before in the match. He explained that this point decreased his self-confidence as illustrated in the following sentence: “My self-confidence decreases very much. I had already made a mistake in forehand. Now, it’s the second mistake successively.” Fabien experienced serenity because he played well in the five last points. He explained that this serenity was debilitating because it led him to be too confident: “Yes, of course, I am very serene here. Serene, calm. But in fact, I am much too serene, much too confident. And it’s not good because I release.” Because of their debilitative emotions, other players mentioned sometimes they felt negative sensations (i.e., debilitating perception of physiological symptoms accompanying the emotion experienced) and/or uncomfortable. Specifically, players experienced debilitative emotions that could cause them to be much too tense (subtheme more contracted) or in contrast too relaxed for the constraints and characteristics of the situation, to be uncomfortable in their gesture and/or movement (subtheme worse gesture), to be uncomfortable physically and/or in their displacement (subtheme feel physically worse), to tremble in their legs and/ or arms (subtheme tremble), to play with a sensation of “short arm” (i.e., sensation of all body’s members being held back, which causes a passivity and a lack of action on the ball during the point), or to feel blocked up, preventing them taking the least action on the ball (subtheme feel blocked up by his emotion). The following quotation from Julien, who felt anxious, illustrates the theme negative sensations: “It influences me negatively. Winning the point doesn’t relax me at this time. It’s always a debilitative anxiety because I experience, a little, “short arm.” With the style of game I have, normally, I attack very much and I take lots of risks. But now, I wait. As on this point, I am passive because I think I have

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“short arm.” And it’s not good because it’s not my style of game. Me, I don’t know how to play in a passive manner.” Finally, some participants mentioned that they perceived their emotions as debilitating because they caused them to have maladaptive behaviors (i.e., behave in an inappropriate manner regarding the characteristics and the constraints of the situation). Indeed, players experienced debilitative emotions that could cause them to force their strokes too much (i.e., force technical strokes where it is not necessary about the situation), to make unusual mistakes, to put back on the table (i.e., where it is not necessary about the constraints of the situation), or to play poorly or in an inappropriate manner regarding the constraints of the situation (subtheme poor level of game). Other debilitative emotions could cause players to be too passive (i.e., undergo the opponent’s game without trying to react), to take too much risk, or to shorten time too much between points (i.e., not taking enough time between points to focus). The following quotation from Julien, who experienced discouragement, illustrates the theme maladaptive behaviors: “I don’t play. I am not offensive and aggressive enough in the game. I am too soft.” Edouard experienced anger because his opponent won the point by producing a trajectory that caused the ball to hit the net before bouncing on the table. He thought his opponent had been lucky in an important moment of the match (Set 5, 8–8). Edouard did not regulate effectively this anger and he interpreted this emotion as debilitating because he explained it forced him to take too much risk on the next point (where it was not necessary regarding the situation): “I am very angry and it is necessary that I evacuate my anger. So, I think I will force my strokes too much. I will take really too much risk.”

Neutral Direction (40 EUMs, 1,52%) Participants mentioned sometimes experiencing emotions that influenced their behavior and performance in a neutral manner (i.e., neither facilitating nor debilitating). The category neutral direction was defined by the themes take more risk (i.e., anger and joy) and take less risk (i.e., relief and anxiety). The following quotations illustrate respectively these two themes: “It is neither positive nor negative. It influences me in the sense that I am more inclined to attack in top-spin. But after, I don’t know if it is positive or negative. Because of this state, I can make a mistake or win the point. So, I just know that I will be more offensive on the next point because I feel happy” (Martin, joy). “The relief, it influences me in the sense that I will not take too much risk. At 10-8, I will try to assure the next two points. In fact, the relief, it influences me to not take too much risk or to lose the point stupidly. But it’s neither really positive nor really negative” (Nicolas, relief).

No Perceived Influence Upon His Performance (78 EUMs, 2,96%) Finally, players mentioned sometimes that they felt discrete emotions (i.e., joy, serenity, anger, anxiety, discouragement, disappointment) that they perceived as not influencing their performance. This no perceived influence upon their performance can be evidenced in the following quotation from Albert, who felt anxious:

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“It doesn’t disturb me. It’s just that I feel anxious but I think it doesn’t influence me” (Albert, anxiety).

Discussion This study investigated the directional interpretation processes of discrete emotions experienced by national table tennis players during competition. Results highlight the impact of emotions on performance based on the perceptions of athletes who were immersed in competitive situations (Sève et al., 2007). Participants explained the facilitating and debilitating perceived effects of discrete emotions on performance by using the concepts of confidence, sensations, motivation, concentration, and adaptation of their behavior to the constraints and characteristics of the situation. In addition, the direction of emotions appears to be multifaceted as participants often provided multiple reasons to explain the perceived influence of an emotion on performance. Researchers have outlined the mechanisms by which emotions may influence sport performance (Lazarus, 2000; Hanin, 2007; Jones, 2003; Vallerand & Blanchard, 2000). The five main concepts identified by the participants are consistent with these conceptualizations. For example, the themes increased/ decreased concentration and their associated subthemes (i.e., more focused, more reflected, more applied, anticipate what will happen, loss of lucidness, loss of reflection, and loss of concentration) comprise psychological functions of concentration (plan actions and strategies needed to defeat an opponent) and attention (to what is happening in a competition), as defined by Lazarus (2000). The themes increased/decreased motivation refer both to Hanin’s (2007) construct of energy mobilization (ability to recruit internal and situational resources at the right time and place), Lazarus’s (2000) concept of psychological function of motivation (commitment of energy and persistence), and motivational aspects suggested by Jones (2003) and Vallerand and Blanchard (2000). The themes adaptive/maladaptive behaviors and increased/decreased concentration relate to the Hanin’s (2007) construct of energy utilization (skill to use efficiently these resources). Finally, the themes positive/negative sensations refer to the construct of physical functioning, whereas the themes too confident/increased/decreased confidence and increased/ decreased concentration relate to the concept of cognitive functioning (Jones, 2003; Vallerand & Blanchard, 2000). These results highlight differences within the directional interpretation processes between the discrete emotions experienced by participants (see Table 1). Facilitating anger and hope were associated with motivation, facilitating anxiety with concentration and to a lesser extent with motivation, facilitating serenity with the experience of positive sensations and to a lesser extent with adaptive behaviors, and facilitating joy with self-confidence. Debilitating anxiety was associated with a decreased concentration, debilitating discouragement with a decreased motivation, and debilitating anger with a decreased concentration and to a lesser extent with maladaptive behaviors. These results highlight the importance of investigating a wide range of discrete emotions in the study of the emotions-performance relationship (Lazarus, 2000), and suggest that the nature of discrete emotions may play a critical role in the underlying mechanisms by which emo-

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tions may influence performance in competition. Future research could clarify the underlying mechanisms and the respective roles of positive and negative discrete emotions on performance variability. Results also suggest that the perceived effects of discrete emotions upon performance seem strongly dependent on the characteristics and constraints of the environmental context in which experienced emotions were embedded, and may not be defined by the nature of emotions. For example, because participants perceived that some discrete emotions (e.g., joy, anger, discouragement) influenced them to take more risk was interpreted by participants as a facilitative, debilitative, or neutral effect of their emotions on performance (see Figures 1 and 2), depending on the characteristics and constraints of the situation in which players are embedded when they experienced these emotions. Similarly, some emotions (i.e., anger, anxiety, hope, and serenity) prevented a performer from focusing on the match or helped a performer to attain a high level of concentration (see Figures 1 and 3). In future research, the directional interpretation processes of discrete emotions should always be considered within the environmental context in which athletes experience their emotions. From an applied perspective, these intraindividual differences in directional interpretation processes of discrete emotions suggest that interventions designed to assist athletes managing their emotions should be implemented on an idiosyncratic and person-oriented basis (Hanin, 2000a, 2007; Jones, 2003). However, as discrete emotions arise often automatically through athletes’ cognitive appraisal of the situation (i.e., transaction between the individual and the environment, see Lazarus, 1999), it would be difficult to believe that athletes could control efficiently all emotions while competing. In addition to helping athletes to develop a varied (i.e., emotion-oriented, problem-oriented, and avoidance coping) and broad repertoire of emotional regulation strategies available at the time of the competition (Jones, 2003), sport psychologists and practitioners should also assist athletes in developing and maintaining facilitative interpretations of their discrete emotions during competition (Hanton & Jones, 1999; Mellalieu et al., 2006). Specifically, this would be achieved by implementing a cognitive restructuring intervention (cf. Hanton & Jones, 1999) based partly on participants’ justifications explaining influence of discrete emotions on sport performance. Given the retrospective nature of this study, it is possible that attributional bias of the performers could have influenced the results. In other words, we cannot rule out the possible role of rationalization and elaboration in providing biased views of the participants about emotion-performance relationships and mechanisms underlying these relationships even if the interviewer urged the participants to simply describe the events, emotions, and direction of emotions and avoided requests for generalization during self-confrontation interviews (Sève et al., 2007; Trudel et al., 1996). In the current study, we examined the concept of meta-emotion (i.e., knowing what one knows about one’s emotional experience), a type of meta-cognition (i.e., awareness or reflected knowledge about a person’s experiences, cf. Hanin, 2007; Mayer, & Gaschke, 1988; Mayer & Stevens, 1994) directed toward the perceived and expected effects of discrete emotions toward sport performance (Hanin, 2007; Jones, 1995; Skinner & Brewer, 2004). In this perspective, we cannot infer objectively the mechanisms by which emotions might have influenced a player’s per-

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formance. However, objective and subjective measurements of the influence of emotions upon sport performance should be considered as complementary and not antagonistic. A subjective level of analysis could provide new insights in the relationship between positive and negative discrete emotions and sport performance by identifying complementary and different mechanisms of the influence of emotions on performance (e.g., confidence, experienced sensations), which could not be evidenced at an objective level. Caution should be exercised before generalizing the findings of certain discrete emotions (i.e., relief, disappointment, and disgust) because only a small number of EUMs (i.e., equal to or fewer than 10 EUMs) were gathered for the emotional regulation processes of these emotions. Similarly, because of the small and homogeneous sample used in this study, findings should be generalized with caution to athletes of different gender, sports, or skill levels. Nevertheless, our focus on a small sample of national table tennis players provided a possible explanation of the mechanisms by which discrete emotions might influence performance in these players. In addition, the use of self-confrontation video-assisted interviews overcomes some limits of retrospective studies that dominate the literature (i.e., participants are generally more likely to mention how they would normally and/or generally interpret their emotions relating their performance without reference to real-life situations) by enabling participants to state how they actually interpret their discrete emotions in a particular naturalistic situation (Hanin, 2003, 2007; Sève et al., 2007). This methodology also allowed us to depict a view of the directional interpretation processes, by gathering discrete emotions experienced by players during their matches as well as emotions’ perceived effects toward their performance. Continuing use of naturalistic qualitative video-assisted approaches to examine directional interpretation process of emotions in sport may reveal underlying mechanisms by which emotions may influence performance during competition for practitioners and researchers. Future research using this methodology should investigate the processes of emotional regulation, directional interpretation, and cognitive appraisal of positive and negative discrete emotions and the possible relations among these variables.

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