Relational Efficacy & Social Support in Athletics

Abstract

Social support is critical to athletes' mental health. Previous research has demonstrated that social support reduces burnout in collegiate student athletes while increasing overall well- being (Defreese & Smith, 2014). Despite the well-documented importance of social support in athletes' life, particularly from teammates, little research has been undertaken to investigate how a person's belief in a teammate's athletic potential is connected to the amount of social support provided to members of an individual's training group. In terms of 'belief', Lent and Lopez (2002) proposed the tripartite model of efficacy beliefs. This model contained three different types of efficacy beliefs: self-efficacy (i.e., an individual's belief in themselves), other-efficacy (an individual's belief in another person), and relation inferred self-efficacy (an individual's perception about how another person views them). PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of relational effects among teammates. Essentially, the researchers sought to examine how other- efficacy relates to social support provided by teammates, how that received social support relates to relation inferred self-efficacy, and how relation inferred self- efficacy relates to the self-efficacy of the athlete. METHODS: Participants included male (n = 44, 36.4%) and female (n = 67, 55.4%) athletes with an age range of 17-23 (MAge = 20.28 years, SDAge = 1.51). Athletes were required to complete a survey containing social support (i.e., perceived and provided tangible, esteem, emotional, and informational support), (i.e., self- efficacy, other-efficacy, and relation inferred self-efficacy), and demographic measures. RESULTS: Multiple linear regressions were used to test the relationships between each variable. Other-efficacy was found to significantly predict provided tangible ([beta] = .31, p = [less-than].001), emotional ([beta] = .26, p = .004), and esteem social support ([beta] = .24, p = .008). Provided informational social support was not significantly predicted by other-efficacy ([beta] = .12, p = .162). The four types of received social support did not significantly predict relation inferred self- efficacy (RISE; [beta] = -.06 - .180, p = .138 - .596). Finally, relation inferred self-efficacy predicted self-efficacy ([beta] = .66, p = [less-than].001). CONCLUSION: According to the present study, those who are confident in their teammate's talents are more likely to supply them with social support. Furthermore, a teammate's confidence in an individual predicts the amount of emotional comfort, self-confidence building gestures, and tangible experiences they provide.