Abstract

The purpose of the present study was twofold: to describe the post-competitive behaviors of African and Middle East Arabic gymnasts, and to compare these patterns with existing data on gymnasts who competed at the Olympic Games in 1976 in Montreal. Observations were carried out during the 1985 Pan-Arabic Games in Casablanca on 399 gymnastic performances of 43 males and 25 women. The independent variables of concern were the continent of origin, the sex and the performance levels of the gymnasts. The behavioral categories of interest were the type and the source of feedback as well as the nature of the post-competitive emotional reactions to the performance and the score. The results indicated that the African Arabs demonstrated higher levels of positive feedback from teammates and reacted more positively to their performance and scores than did the Middle East Arabs. The male gymnasts also tended to receive more positive feedback both from the coach and teammates and tended to react less emotionally than did the female gymnasts to both the performances and their evaluation. In comparison to the elite gymnasts who competed at the Olympic Games in Montreal, the Arabic gymnasts received more technical, but less positive feedback from the coach, while the Olympic gymnasts were more often ignored altogether after the performance. Both men and women consistently behaved more emotionally, positively and negatively, to their performance and to its evaluation than did the Olympic gymnasts. Verf.-Referat gekuerzt