Abstract

A psychological performance crisis is considered a state in which an athlete has difficulties in performing a task in competition, due to extreme physical and psychological arousal. The present study was designed to estimate the relevance of task-related belavior (performance) and rule- and norm-related behavior (-fairness- and -officials response-) to psychological crisis vulnerability during competitive situations. Thirty-one tennis experts estimated the probability (in percent) of such behaviors in crisis and non-crisis states. These estimates were used for calculating the components of diagnosticity (likelihood ratios) according to the Bayesian approach and later subjected to within subjects ANOVAs. The results revealed that crisis and non-crisis conditions can be differentiated significantly by all the variables as well as by their interactive impact. Vulnerability to crisis was associated mainly with unexpectedly poor performance, with unexpected and major violations, and finally, with unexpected behavior to which officials respond. Expected behaviors were associated with non-crisis state. The results are discussed in relation to theoretical concepts such as arousal, performance, and crisis. Verf.-Referat