Performance Psychology

What Is Performance Psychology?

Performance psychology is a subdivision of psychology that examines psychological factors influencing optimal human performance. I'm a work and organisational psychologist and I'm interested in the behaviour and performance of people at work. I focus on the mental skills of peak performance and the psychological aspects of achievement. The field of performance psychology is concerned with the study of high-performing people in domains such as sport, business and creative pursuits. Established principles of performance psychology are employed to assist professionals at the top of their game in producing superior results, often under the pressure of competition, role or spectator expectation.

Through assisting professionals to refine their existing skills and develop new ones, human performance psychology presents new possibilities for improving and enhancing human performance. Interventions such as Psychological Skills Training (PST), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), and consultation & coaching help to develop in the performer those mental states that can enhance optimal performance and equip them with cognitive skills required to overcome and triumph under difficult conditions.

We can take the position that the psychological structures influencing successful performance are similar across domains. Music and the arts, business and entrepreneurship, the military, academia, emergency response services, sport or otherwise. Understandably, there are many differences in required skill, physical and cognitive abilities across these domains, but it appears from a broad body of research that the underlying structures that determine outcomes have comparable attributes¹.

However, such is the case with all human affairs and investigations, the buck doesn't stop there. There are exceptions to the rule, and in subsequent articles, we will explore what contrary evidence has been presented.

A Definition of Performance Psychology

Performance is creative expression. It is perhaps the physical manifestation of an inner, ultimately unknowable creative drive. Human performance is the desire for the creative drive, a will to be known to oneself and others as this or that. It draws us to ever greater versions of ourselves – if we are willing to follow. However, the shape of the optimal performance curve is exponential and requires ever-increasing refinement of our skills. In that pursuit, we attempt to define performance so that our efforts focus on factors of mind that are most influential on results.

There are many definitions of performance, although it may be impossible to define entirely. Thomas, French & Humphries, 1986² in their work on sports skill performance, offered the following definition;

Performance is a complex product of cognitive knowledge about the current situation and past events combined with a player's ability to produce the sport skills required.

Thomas, French & Humphries, 1986

In 2010, Aoyagi and Portenga ³ in their study on research and practice, offered the following definition of performance;

Successful performance requires both the development and mastery of Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs) and the capability to consistently and reliably deliver (i.e., perform) KSAs at the time of performance.

Aoyagi and Portenga, 2010

The Psychology of Performance

Optimal performance is about utilising expertise in the physical execution of complex abilities and skills. However, there is also a cognitive and emotional aspect that must be taken into account. Mindset is a fundamental component. Gerald Matthews and colleagues⁴ define it as;

The Psychology of Performance seeks to understand the cognitions and behaviours initiated by striving for competence or even excellence.

Matthews, Davies, Stammers, Westerman, 2000

More specifically, in relation to sports psychology, The Psychological Society of Ireland provides the following definition⁵;

Sport Psychology addresses the interactions between psychology and sport performance, including the psychological aspects of optimal athletic performance, the psychological care and well being of athletes, coaches, and sport organisations, and the connection between physical and psychological functioning”

Martin, 2012

The psychological and physiological attributes of the individual, how they interact and are utilised are fundamental to optimal performance. However, the environment and our interaction with it is also of significance. Therefore, in our pursuit of knowledge of human behaviour, our definitions must include the space in which people perform.

A Brief History of Performance Psychology

The evolution in sport, exercise, and performance psychology in Europe goes back to the 1800s and spread from the east (Germany and Russia) to the west of the continent (France). European sport psychology theorising started with Wilhelm Wundt, who studied reaction times and mental processes in 1879. And Philippe Tissié, who wrote about psychological changes in cycling in 1894. Pierre de Coubertin was the first to put forward a definition and promotion of sport psychology as a field of science.

From there on, and despite obstacles and delays due to two world wars in Europe, sport psychology accelerated and caught up with North America. Looking back to the history of our disciplines, while sport, exercise, and performance psychology evolved and developed as distinct disciplines in Europe, sport and exercise psychology research appear to be stronger than performance psychology.

The research advancements in sport and exercise psychology led to the establishment of the European sport psychology organization (FEPSAC) in the 1960s. It stood as an umbrella establishment that would accept the cultural and linguistic borders within the continent. From there on, education programs developed throughout Europe, and a cross-continent program of study with the collaboration of 12 academic institutions and the support of the European Commission was launched in the late 1990s.

Applied sport psychology was practiced in the Soviet Union, aiming to enhance the performance of their teams in the 1952 Olympics. Unfortunately, in many countries across Europe, research and practice are not comprehensively integrated to enhance sports and sportspersons, and while applied practice has room to grow, it also has challenges to tackle ⁶

Everyone Is A Performer

Every one of us performs to varying degrees. Every day we set out to execute our work, but few really pursue excellence to a significant extent. We have a transactional relationship with our daily work. Of those who pursue excellence, the elite few achieve eminence in their field of work, sport, research, creative or business enterprise. Only some succeed, the majority who try will fail.

Why do more of us not reach these lofty states?

Performance psychology attempts to answer this question by systematically assessing individual and collective psychological processes involved in performance. Processes such as attention, imagery, superior performance intelligence, motivation, anxiety, confidence, cognition, and emotion. They provide the performer with a means by which to master these elements and achieve their performance goals.

Demand is growing for professional, licensed performance psychologists, but the area of expertise was not always a popular one. In the 1980s and 1990s, there was widespread scepticism of its viability and relevance to physical output. No surprise, given the hold behaviourist ideas had over popular consciousness. Very often individuals, teams and management were unwilling to forego the physical aspects of training for time spent perfecting something as “unsubstantial” and “unimportant” as the mind. Financial resources were also limited, and together, these factors slowed progress.

As broader society progressed in its understanding of cognitive aspects, organisations opened up to the potential benefits of psychological training on the performance of their athletes, personnel and themselves.

Ethics In Performance Psychology

Psychologists in Britain are held to the British Psychological Society Ethical Principles. In Ireland, it is the Psychological Society of Ireland, and in the US, it is the American Psychological Society's Ethical Guidelines that are held in all manner of psychological research and practice.

Ethics are about always holding the best interest of the client in mind above the demands of the situation, the research or of other vested interests. Confidentiality, too, is an important ethical principle that we must adhere to when working with professionals. The Psychological Society of Ireland has outlined the following ethical principles;

1. Respect for the rights and dignity of the person

Psychologists must treat their clients as persons of intrinsic worth with a right to determine their own priorities. They must respect clients' dignity and give due regard to clients' moral and cultural values. Psychologists shall take care not to intrude inappropriately on clients' privacy. They shall treat as confidential all information (including oral, verbal, written and electronic) obtained during their work, except where the law requires disclosure. As far as possible, they shall ensure that clients understand and consent to whatever professional action they propose.

2. Competence

Psychologists must constantly maintain and update their professional skills and ethical awareness. They shall recognise that psychological knowledge, their own expertise and capacity for work are limited and take care not to exceed those limits.

3. Responsibility

In their professional and scientific activities, psychologists must act trustworthy, reputable, and accountable towards clients and the community. They shall avoid harming clients and research participants and act to prevent harm caused by others. Psychologists shall cooperate with colleagues and other professionals to ensure the best service to clients and act positively to resolve ethical dilemmas. They shall ensure that those whom they supervise act ethically. In research with animals, they shall treat the animals humanely.

4. Integrity

Psychologists require one another to be honest and accurate about their qualifications, the effectiveness of their services, and their research findings. They shall take steps to manage personal stress and maintain their own mental health. They shall treat others fairly, openly and straightforwardly, honour professional commitments, and act to clarify any confusion about their role or responsibilities. Where possible, they shall avoid the use of deception with research participants. They shall not use the professional relationship to exploit clients, sexually or otherwise, and they shall deal actively with conflicts of interest. They shall take action against harmful or unethical behaviour in colleagues or members of other professions.

Situations are not always black and white for the performance psychologist. Therefore, the support of colleagues and professional bodies in ethical matters is vital to the performance psychologist in executing their work and the performer's client. Deciding on a course of action and interventions, where applicable, is not a one-size-fits-all. Each situation requires skills of a particular nature that may only come with life and field-specific experience.

The Role of The Performance Psychologist

The performance psychologist's role begins with helping individuals establish and maintain optimal output, develop high levels of mastery, garner motivation, and pursue excellence. All of this without falling foul to the spectre of perfectionism.

Establishing future goals can be beneficial to some performers. However, they can be a distraction and detrimental to results for others. The performance psychologist must help the performer focus on the here-and-now process rather than future-based ideals.

In this here-and-now focus on the work, there is the capability to establish awareness and regulation of emotion. Emotional regulation is central to optimal performance in high-pressure situations such as business, high-risk sports and the military. Performers, therefore, in all domains need to be capable of “switching on” at specific times. As such, developing and maintaining high levels of concentration under pressure is a common requirement of the performance psychologist.

Sport and performance psychology is about assisting athletes, artists, and professionals to become the best they can be. To perform at consistently high levels under any conditions. In that, there is the realisation of the dark side of the mind, manifesting through performance anxiety and choking under the pressure of the demands of performance.

The Pursuit of Perfection

The pursuit of better, of perfect, seems to drive exceptional performance. However, it often comes at a significant cost to mental health. The challenges and demands of high performance can take their toll on the fragile self. As such, it often results in burnout or even lasting anxiety or depression. Self-compassion, therefore, is a vital component in the performer's armoury. The performance psychologist's job is to assist the performer in building this defence.

Physical pain and injury are inevitable in sports and other demanding fields of endeavour. Emotional pain is also a factor to contend with. But it isn’t what happens to us that should determine the outcome; it is how we react to it. In this, a deeper sense of self is required to withstand the turmoil of the work.

Consider an artist in her attempt to create her painting or the novelist bringing a story to life in the pages of a book; in these things, there is a significant psychological challenge. Consider the 5000-meter runner or the Olympic boxer hitting the gym or the track every single day, sometimes several times per day; for these pursuers of excellence, there is a constant traversing the continuum of good and bad, win and lose success and failure.

Ultimately, the performance psychologist helps the individual build a stable self under the demands of the game. In that relationship, we must remember that although we take our work seriously, it is all just a game. It's the playing that matters. We must be capable of standing outside.

1. Ericsson, K. A. (2014). The road to excellence: The acquisition of expert performance in the arts and sciences, sports, and games. Psychology Press.
2. Thomas, J. R., French, K. E., & Humphries, C. A. (1986). Knowledge development and sport skill performance: Directions for motor behaviour research. Journal of sport Psychology, 8(4), 259-272.
3. Aoyagi, M. W., & Portenga, S. T. (2010). The role of positive ethics and virtues in the context of sport and performance psychology service delivery. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 41(3), 253.
4. Matthews, G., Davies, D. R., Stammers, R. B., & Westerman, S. J. (2000). Human performance: Cognition, stress, and individual differences. Psychology Press.
5. Guidlines For The Accreditation of Postgraduate Academic Courses in Sport, Exercise & Performance Psychology
6. Chroni, S., & Abrahamsen, F.  (2017, December 19). History of Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology in Europe. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology. Ed.