Masters Theses

Date of Award

8-1993

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Human Performance and Sport Studies

Major Professor

Craig A. Wrisberg

Committee Members

Joy T. DeSensi, John W. Lounsbury

Abstract

In this research an attempt was made to determine if Csikszentmihalyi's flow theory (1975a, 1988) is applicable to competitive sport situations as understood from the perspective of elite female distance runners' perspective. Separate interviews were conducted with five former and current collegiate, female distance runners, who had attained national and international recognition in the sport. Each was asked to describe their most pleasurable track competition experiences. The interviews were transcribed, then, analyzed using a phenomenological methodology to inductively derive a thematic structure the "Phenomenology of Competition Among Elite Female Distance Runners." Three major themes, each having two contrasting aspects, provide a holistic and descriptive understanding of these runners' competition experiences: a) giving it your all versus struggling, b) having the energy versus not into it, and c) being in control versus messing-up. The resulting thematic structure was deemed consistent with Csikszentmihalyi's (1975a, 1988) characterization of flow and non-flow experiences. In particular, the thematic aspects of giving it your all, having the energy and being in control might be considered precursors of a flow-like experience. When these thematic aspects are aligned there seems to be a unified and holistic experience of letting it happen that occurs for these elite female distance runners and seems to be comparable to the flow-like experience. Whereas, the thematic aspects of struggling, not into it, and messing-up might be considered non-flow experiences. The thematic aspect of having the energy seems to support Csikszentmihalyi's (1975a, 1988) supposition that an athletes' flow experience provides a source of intrinsic interest for the activity itself. The elite female distance runners also associated an enjoyable race with the experience of giving it your all and the subsequent flow-like experience of letting it happen. This also coincided with Csikszentmihalyi's (1975a, 1988) proposal that there is a relationship between flow experiences and the athlete's enjoyment of the activity. Finally, the results suggested that a flow-like experience in track competitions may be an interpersonal phenomenon, as well as, an intrapersonal experience for these elite female distance runners. This may be due to perceptions that a cooperative-competitive relationship exists between the elite distance runners rather than an adversarial one.

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