| Summary: | Reversal theory (Apter, 1982) is a psychological theory of motivation, emotion, and personality that purports to explain human behaviour as well as experience. In 1999 Svebak proposed a triangular relationship between metamotivational dominance, sport preference and biological composition among elite athletes using a reversal theory framework. Svebak’s proposition would suggest that when three of these components match (e.g., telic dominant individual with slow-twitch muscle fibre predominance who participates in endurance activities), they have a higher probability of success, and of optimizing the joy of participating. However, this proposition has only been examined in elite athletes (Braathen & Svebak, 1990). The purpose of the present research was to examine whether components of Svebak’s triangular relationship could be demonstrated in the general population and to examine the relationships between dominance, state and physical performance. A series of four studies were conducted with subjects purposely sampled and allocated to telic and paratelic groups from a pool of individuals who initially completed the Paratelic Dominance Scale (PDS; Cook & Gerkovich, 1993). Subjects who scored higher than one standard deviation above the mean were classified as the paratelic dominant (PD), while those who scored lower than one standard deviation below the mean were classified as the telic dominant (TD) (Gerkovich, Cook, Hoffman, & O’Connell, 1998). Age, sex, preferred sports/exercise activity and frequency of exercise per week were recorded for each subject. In each study, state was manipulated via video stimuli into telic and paratelic in a crossover design before completing an exercise task, the subjects continued to watch the video stimuli for the duration of the exercise. Manipulation checks indicated that the video stimulus was successful in changing state. The Telic State Measure (TSM; Svebak & Murgatroyd, 1985) and Tension and Effort Stress Inventory (TESI; Svebak, 1993) were completed during each of the studies. The exercise performed in each study varied with 5 s isometric leg extension used in Study 1; 100 repetition isokinetic leg extensions in Study 2; 30 s Wingate test in Study 3 and ramped peak test in Study 4. Exercise preference in all four studies indicated that telic dominant individuals preferred endurance exercise activities, while paratelic dominant individuals preferred explosive exercise activities, supporting previous research (Cogan & Brown, 1999; Kerr, 1991; Kerr & Svebak, 1989; Svebak & Kerr, 1989). Physiological responses (EMG and HR for Studies 1 and 2; HRV and HR for Studies 3 and 4) showed mixed results. For the Study 1, EMG was employed to examine if either state or dominance influenced neural activation during isometric leg contraction, however no significant differences were found. Study 2, muscle tension was examined using EMG gradients during isokinetic leg exercise with results indicating dominance determining EMG gradients rather than state (gradients present in telic dominant individuals). HRV has never been investigated previously in relation to reversal theory. In both Studies 3 and 4 the majority of HRV components decreased after exercise as a result of vagal withdrawal. When examining metamotivational dominance/state and HRV variables, changes showed no statistical significance in both studies, but responses in HRV variables were observed in relation to differences between metamotivational dominance/state suggesting a need for further studies. Heart rate was measured in all four studies and results were consistent with telic dominant individuals having a lower resting heart rate. No significant differences were found between metamotivational dominance in relation to performance. However, across all four studies there was a tendency for paratelic dominant individuals to perform better during explosive/power activities while telic dominant individuals performed better during endurance activities, both groups tended to perform better in their preferred state. There was a strong tendency for telic dominant individuals to report higher levels of stress than the paratelic dominant individuals regardless of the state condition. State effects were observed for some of somatic emotions (i.e., excitement, relaxation, boredom and anxiety), while other emotions showed time effects due to the results of exercise in all four studies. Generally, both telic and paratelic dominant individuals were more excited and less bored at post-exercise; and telic dominant individuals were more anxious throughout the course of experiment. The present research has made contributions to reversal theory research by supporting previous findings in exercise preference and resting heart rates, and presenting new data on changes in stress and emotions in telic/paratelic state conditions during exercise. Furthermore, muscle tension, as indicated by EMG gradients, has been observed relative to state and HRV has been measured for the first time in relation to reversal theory, indicating possible links between HRV and metamotivational dominance/state. Methodological issues such as state manipulation and dominant group selection have contributed to the reversal theory research. The data provide some support for Svebak’s proposed triangular relationships among general populations.
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