The influence of crowd effects on competition stress and emotions on female football

Abstract

Existing sport psychology stress research informed by Lazarus’ (1999) CMRT has failed to allude to the stress-emotion process in detail during specific sporting situations. Consequently, this study aimed to provide a detailed insight into the stressful experiences of players during a penalty shootout through semi-structured interviews; specifically, examining the influence of the entire stress and emotion process on penalty kick performance with and without a crowd present. The findings showed that the majority of players showed debilitative perceptions towards performance, resulting in them missing their shot. However, it has emerged that not all non-elite performers have negative views of such stressful situations; thus, contradicting previous research (e.g. Jones et al., 1993; 1995; Neil et al., 2011). This investigation was the first to explore the stress-emotion process within a specific sporting environment, thus providing a foundation for future research. Additionally, the current study has provided coaches and sport psychologists with a fundamental understanding of the stress process and its’ influence on performance. Furthermore, relevant training programmes and psychological strategies can be implemented with the ambition of achieving optimal performance in athletes.