Cognitive Appraisal

Personal interpretation of a situation (how an individual views a situation). Cognitive appraisal is regarded by some sport psychologists as an important component of burnout. The perception of a situation can be the cause of a negative psychological reaction, rather than the situation itself. An athlete who loses a string of competitions can view it positively as a challenge and an opportunity to come back from adversity, or view it negatively as evidence that he or she will never be a successful competitor.

Cognitive appraisals determine if an event will be perceived as stressful.

Primary appraisals - initial evaluation of the situation; three kinds:

1. Irrelevant
2. Benign-positive
3. Stressful - Harm/loss, Threat, Challenge

When an event is perceived as negative in the primary appraisal process, then the person makes a further appraisal in regard to:

• Harm: The assessment of the damage that the event has already caused.
• Threat: Possible future damage that the event may cause.
• Challenge: The potential to overcome and even profit from the event.

Secondary appraisals - evaluation of one’s ability to cope with a situation. Interacts with primary appraisal to determine emotional reaction to event.

Reappraisals - continuous re-evaluation of situation based on new information.

The appraisal view of stress was developed by Richard Lazarus.

Some responses to stress are a conscious effort to cope with the stress

Cognitive responses to stress include beliefs:

• What causes stress?
• Can it be controlled?
• How harmful is it?

Factors in Appraisal

Vulnerability - When things of value are threatened

Person variables - Commitments, beliefs

Situation variables - Novelty, predictability, event uncertainty, imminence, duration, temporal uncertainty

Example in Sport

Steve Williams is quoted in his book Golf at the Top With Steve Williams, by suggesting top professional golfers do not morally judge a shot after it comes to rest. According to Williams:

"In the top golfers' eyes all shots are equal, and none is more equal that the others --- something that fits nicely into my native Kiwi egalitarianism. And since all golf shots are equal,there's no point in making value judgements on them. The top golfers just gather the data, and deliberately suppress any tendency to be either encouraged or discouraged by it. It's just data: it doesn't have a moral value."

This statement suggest that top athlete's use cognitive appraisal to devalue a particular situation or outcome neither judging it being good or bad. A situation or in this case, a singular golf shot, is what it is and nothing else. In professional golf, if the player were to allow a previous shot to dictate emotional levels, that player would experience a roller coaster of emotions on every hole since no shot, other than a hole in one, is considered perfect. By removing emotion and not placing a judgmental value on performance, like a particulate golf shot, the athlete is not held hostage psychologically by up and down swings in athletic performance or outcomes that sometimes are out of the athlete's control.

Sources

Steve Williams, Hugh De Lacy. Golf at the Top with Steve Williams: Tips and Techniques from the Caddy to Raymond Floyd, Greg Norman, and Tiger Woods, Ulysses Press, (2006) - ISBN 1569755272