From Mental Game to Cultural Praxis: A Cultural Studies Model's Implications for the Future of Sport Psychology

TLDR

The paper situates sport psychology within cultural studies, highlighting its intersection with sport studies and emphasizing sociocultural identity, agency, equity, justice, and interdisciplinarity as central concerns. The study investigates how a cultural studies praxis heuristic model can transform sport psychology. Applying the cultural studies model, sport psychology shifts from an individualistic, quantitative, apolitical discipline to a multi‑identification, difference‑sensitive, qualitative‑friendly, social‑justice‑based interdisciplinary praxis, offering new trajectories for future work.

Abstract

This paper explores the implications of a cultural studies as praxis heuristic "model" for transforming sport psychology. It provides a brief introduction to both cultural studies and sport psychology and discusses a cultural studies intersection with sport studies and sport psychology. Cultural studies, it asserts, provides one of several interrelated trajectories for future work in sport psychology. Issues such as sociocultural identity/identifi cation, agency, equity and justice, and interdisciplinarity—that are marginal if not completely eschewed in traditional sport psychology—are explicitly engaged as central concerns. Taken up through the cultural studies model, sport psychology evolves from an individual focused, quantitative, "apolitical" single discipline into a multiple identifi cation focused, difference sensitive, qualitative friendly and social justice based interdisciplinary praxis.