Recall accuracy for pre and post competition emotional states in athletes

Recall accuracy for pre and post competition emotional states in athletes

Th e current study assessed athletes’ recall accuracy for pre and post competition emotions and their ability to differentiate between the two emotional states. Emotional states of 52 athletes were measured either before (condition 1). after (condition 2), or both before and after (condition 3) competition, and then recalled after a 72-hour delay. The Incredibly Short Profile of Mood States (ISP), Positive- Negative Affect Scale (PNA), and an open question about self-thoughts were used as measurement tools. RM MANOVA procedures revealed that athletes accurately differentiate between their pre and post competition emotional experiences. The results also show that pre-competition emotional states are accurately recalled while the intensity of post-competition negative feelings is underestimated. Several explanations for these findings are offered. Correlations between actual and retrospective measures of emotions are somewhat lower, mainly for the ISP items, than previously reported ones. It seems that scales yield higher correlations than single items. In light of these results, it is recommended to apply recall techniques with caution until the nature and stability of underestimations of negative feelings are better understood. It is further suggested that future research will examine the effects of competition importance and outcome quality on recall accuracy.

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