Psychological demands in elite Indonesian athletes

Rahayuni, Kurniati ORCID: 0000-0003-0413-2046 (2021). Psychological demands in elite Indonesian athletes. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

The aim of this thesis was to understand Indonesian elite athletes’ psychological demands, or social pressures on Indonesian elite athletes. Data were generated from a rigorous research design including 37 elite athletes and 9 sports practitioners in Indonesia representing 9 sports. The study utilised an ontological constructivist-interpretive reflexive approach, in-depth data collection methods of semi-structured interviews and photographic elicitation interview (PEI) to generate rich and robust data to explain the complexity and diversity of Indonesian athletes’ psychological demands. Reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2019) used as the analytical technique, followed by member reflection process. Three themes illustrated three psychological demands relevant to Indonesian athletes: (1) temporality of athletic career, which consisted of subthemes: (i) relation to frequent movements between province and national status; (ii) vagueness of retirement, and (iii) the degree of exploiting body, including managing the risk of injury; (2) cultural appropriateness, consisting of subthemes: (i) religious negotiation; (ii) body as the social and capital of the family; and (iii) compromise to authority; (3) Interactions with organizational stressors, consisting of subthemes: (i) funding and human resources problems, the overlapping of sport organizations in province and national level; and (ii) athletes as epitome icon, or the pressure for athletes to win medals. The original contributions of this research are the detailed accounts of trends and patterns of Indonesian elite athletes in navigating their social pressures. The significance of this work is that the findings: (a) extend the complementary theory of the transactional approach for stress and coping (Lazarus, 1999); (b) instigate new areas of interdisciplinary research in sport psychology and sociology; (c) exemplify a holistic thinking of an athlete’s identity in the sport as a multicultural site; (c) align with the recent global discussion on athletes’ mental health, particularly in developing countries; and (d) bridge the gap of theory and practice of sport psychology in Indonesia. The key action and responsibility is to create a more positive climate to support growth and performance attainment through informing career transition assistance and mental health literacy.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):