SERP
A number of psychological tools have been devised to measure traits that may be important in determining athletic performance. One of these tools is called SERP (sport emotional reaction profile). It was devised by Thomas Tutko and Umberto Tosi who regarded the following traits as important:
• DESIRE. An indication of the ability to set realistic goals: low levels of desire suggest lack of motivation; levels which are too high indicate that unrealistic goals are being set
• ASSERTIVENESS. A measure of an individual's determination to succeed. Low assertiveness suggests that an athlete will be intimidated by others; high levels indicate a tendency towards aggressiveness
• SENSITIVITY. An indication of the amount of pleasure gained from success. A person with high sensitivity may be easily discouraged by lack of success. Low levels suggest resilience
• TENSION CONTROL. The ability to cope with anxiety. Low tension control generally results in poor performance; high tension control is rarely a problem
• CONFIDENCE. Belief in one's own ability. Both low confidence and overconfidence can be a problem and usually result in poor performance
• PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY. Ability to cope with failures and mistakes. A person with low personal accountability generally blames others for a lack of success; those with very high levels may blame themselves too much if they make even a small mistake
• SELF-DISCIPLINE. The ability to persevere. Those with low levels of self-discipline give up easily and are generally not persistent trainers.
Each trait is scored on a scale from 5 to 30. To determine the scores, athletes are given 42 statements, such as ‘I have nerves of steel during competition’, to which they may respond, ‘almost always’ (about 90 per cent of the time); ‘often’ (about 75 per cent of the time); ‘sometimes’ (about 50 per cent of the time); seldom (about 25 per cent of the time); and ‘almost never’ (about 10 per cent of the time).
SERP is not readily applicable to non-athletes and some sports psychologists doubt its reliability as a research tool. However, it may be useful for self-assessment if the questions are answered honestly. Individual athletes can compare their SERP with a ‘normal’ profile so that problem areas can be revealed and corrected by psychological training techniques. See also Profile Of Moods States.
