Confidence: Trait, State and the Vealey Model
Confidence is a belief in the ability to master a task, and is closely linked to approach behaviour – confident performers are more likely to take risks and welcome challenge.
- Trait confidence is a consistent level of confidence shown across most situations, largely unaffected by pressure or anxiety
- State confidence is confidence specific to a particular situation, which can vary depending on the demands of that situation and the performer's prior experience of it
- The Vealey model of sports confidence explains how trait confidence and competitive orientation combine within a specific objective sporting situation to produce state confidence, which then affects performance. The outcome is subjectively judged by the performer, and this judgement feeds back to shape future trait confidence and competitive orientation
Bandura's Self-Efficacy Theory and Improving Confidence
Self-efficacy is a belief in the ability to master a specific sporting situation – essentially, task-specific confidence, as described by Bandura (1977).
- Bandura identified four factors affecting self-efficacy: performance accomplishments (past success in a task increases confidence for future attempts); vicarious experience (watching a similar model succeed at a task can increase the observer's own confidence, especially if the model is perceived as similar in ability); verbal persuasion (encouragement from significant others such as coaches or respected teammates reinforces belief in the ability to succeed); and emotional arousal (how a performer interprets their physiological arousal – interpreting it positively supports confidence, interpreting it negatively as anxiety undermines it)
- Coaches and players can use these four factors to improve confidence – e.g. controlling arousal through relaxation, giving accurate demonstrations, pointing out past successful performances, offering encouragement, setting attainable goals, and using mental rehearsal
- The home field advantage links to self-efficacy – playing in a familiar environment in front of a supportive crowd tends to increase confidence and assertive behaviour, though very large or hostile crowds can sometimes increase anxiety and cause performance to suffer instead