Attitudes toward sport psychology consulting of adult athletes from the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany

Abstract

Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore attitudes about sport psychology consulting of athletes living in the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany. The Sport Psychology Attitudes ‐ Revised form (SPA‐R; Martin, Kellmann, Lavallee, & Page, 2002) was administered to 404 athletes from the United States, 147 athletes from the United Kingdom, and 260 athletes from Germany. A 2 (Gender) x 3 (Nationality: American, British, and German) × 2 (Type of Sport: physical contact and physical non‐contact) MANCOVA was conducted with past sport psychology consulting experience as a covariate and attitudes about sport psychology as dependent variables. Follow‐up univariate and discriminant function analyses were then performed to identify the attitudes that maximized differences related to gender, nationality, and type of sport. Results revealed that attitudes about sport psychology services might be influenced by gender, nationality, and type of sport. Sport psychology practitioners must be sensitive to how personal characteristics and past experiences influence athletes’ expectations and attitudes toward sport psychology consulting to improve the services they offer.