Optimism is important in enhancing human psychological and physical well-being; however, the association of optimism with burnout has received little attention in sport psychology. This study recruited 139 young volleyball players (M = 16.3 yr., SD = 0.8) to examine this relation. Athletes completed the Chinese version of the Life Orientation Test at Time 1 and 4 mo. later (Time 2). The Chinese version of the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire was also administered. Analysis showed scores on optimism were negatively related to athletes' burnout scores.
References
1.
CarverC. S.ScheierM. F. (1999) Optimism. In SnyderC. R. (Ed.), Coping: the psychology of what works. New York: Oxford Univer. Press. Pp. 182–204.
2.
ChangE. C.RandK. L.StrunkD. R. (2000) Optimism and risk for job burnout among working college students: stress as a mediator. Personality and Individual Differences, 29, 255–263.
3.
CresswellS. L.EklundR. C. (2005) Motivation and burnout among top amateur rugby players. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 37, 469–477.
4.
CresswellS. L.EklundR. C. (2006a) Changes in athlete burnout over a thirty-week “rugby year.”Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 9, 125–134.
5.
CresswellS. L.EklundR. C. (2006b) The convergent and discriminant validity of burnout measures in sport: a multi-trait/multi-method analysis. Journal of Sports Sciences, 24, 209–220.
6.
CresswellS. L.EklundR. C. (2007) Athlete burnout: a longitudinal qualitative study. The Sport Psychologist, 21, 1–20.
7.
EadesA. (1991) An investigation of burnout in the intercollegiate athlete: the development of the Eades Athlete Burnout Inventory. Paper presented at the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity National Conference.
8.
GouldD.DieffenbachK.MoffettA. (2002) Psychological characteristics and their development in Olympic champions. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 14, 172–204.
9.
GouldD.UdryE.TuffeyS.LoehrJ. (1996) Burnout in competitive junior tennis players: I. A quantitative psychological assessment. The Sport Psychologist, 10, 322–340.
10.
LindellM. K.WhitneyD. J. (2001) Accounting for common method variance in cross-sectional research Designs. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 114–121.
11.
LuJ. H.ChenL. H.ChoK. H. (2006) [Revision of Raedeke and Smith's Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ): analyses of validity and reliability of Chinese version]. [Physical Education Journal], 39, 83–94. [in Chinese].
12.
LuJ. H.LinT. S.HuangJ. H.TsaoY. S. (2004) [Influence of athletes' optimism on the post-injury emotional responses and coping behavior]. [Physical Education Journal], 36, 107–118. [in Chinese].
13.
MaoK. N. (1996) [An analysis of causal relations among teachers' optimism; self-efficacy beliefs, cognitive appraisal, coping strategies, mental and physical health, and work adjustment]. [Bulletin of Educational Psychology], 28, 177–193. [in Chinese].
14.
PengT. K.KaoY. T.LinC. C. (2006) [Common method variance in management research: its nature, effects, detection, and remedies]. [Journal of Management], 23, 77–98. [in Chinese].
15.
PetersonC.BossioL. M. (2001) Optimism and physical well-being. In ChangE. C. (Ed.), Optimism and pessimism: implications for theory, research, and practice. Washington, DC: American Psychological Assn. Pp. 127–146.
16.
RaedekeT. D.SmithA. L. (2001) Development and preliminary validation of an athlete burnout measure. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 23, 281–306.
17.
ScheierM. T.CarverC. S. (1985) Optimism, coping, and health: assessment and implications of generalized outcome expectancies. Health Psychology, 4, 219–247.
18.
ScheierM. F.CarverC. S. (2001) Optimism, pessimism and psychological well-being. In ChangE. C. (Ed.), Optimism and pessimism: implications for theory, research, and practice. Washington, DC: American Psychological Assn. Pp. 127–146.
19.
SchwabD. P. (2005) Research methods for organizational studies. (2nd ed.) Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
20.
SegerstromS. C. (2007) Optimism and resources: effects on each other and on health over 10 years. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 772–786.
21.
Solberg NesL.SegerstromS. C. (2006) Dispositional optimism and coping: a meta-analytic review. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10, 235–251.
22.
TsaiY. M.ChenL. H. (2005) [The influence of self-criticism and optimism on athletes' burnout]. [Journal of Physical Education in Higher Education], 7, 71–83. [in Chinese].
23.
WuC. C. (1991) The introduction of Life Orientation Test. Unpublished dissertation, National Chang Chi Univer.
