AASP Newsletter - November 2019

Written by Rachel Arnold, PhD, on behalf of the AASP Dissertation Award Committee

Rachel Arnold

Introduction
Erin Albert is the 2019 AASP Dissertation Award recipient. Through her innovative doctoral work entitled, Achievement Motivation Theory as a Model for Explaining Collegiate Athletes’ Grit, Erin examined, for the first time in a sports context, the motivational factors contributing to the development of grit. The following is a compelling and honest account from Erin herself about her experiences in sport and academia to date.

Erin Albert, M.S., CMPC – A Narrative
I grew up regularly watching and attending sporting events with my family. I always enjoyed playing any team sport I could find. In high school, I played water polo and soccer, and I continued to play soccer at the club level in college, while participating in as many intramural leagues as possible. As a student-athlete and fan of sports, I felt curious about how coaching relationships, team cohesion, and beliefs about sport facilitated, or inhibited, athletic success.

Erin Albert

I completed my undergraduate education at Tulane University, earning degrees in psychology and sociology. Through my coursework there, I was fortunate to find a mentor in the field of sport psychology and discovered my passion for studying the mental aspect of sport and athletes. After learning more about the field, I knew I wanted to gain training as a mental health practitioner, so I could work with any concern an athlete might be experiencing. This led me to the Counseling Psychology doctoral program at the University of North Texas (UNT). I was accepted into their sport psychology cluster and immediately began working with UNT student-athletes. I became invested in not only helping athletes and teams improve their performance, but also their well-being. I’m currently completing my doctoral internship at the NC State University Counseling Center, where I’m hoping to work with their athletic department in the spring semester.

My dissertation builds off my thesis project, which was initially inspired by Carol Dweck’s book “Mindset” and my early work as a sport psychology consultant at UNT. I became fascinated with understanding how to facilitate healthy beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors in athletes. During my second year in the doctoral program, I learned of a research project several advanced students were doing examining grit and performance. I jumped on board and began learning about achievement motivation theory and how decades of research have influenced the sport psychology field and our approach to working with coaches and teams. At the same time, I was learning about the newer phenomenon “grit” that was taking the research world by storm. Initial results of my thesis project indicated that achievement motivation theory constructs (like the motivational climates created by coaches, the mindsets athletes hold about whether ability can be changed through hard work and effort, and the achievement goal orientations they adopt) were in fact related to grit. I wanted to expand on those results for my dissertation project so I could better understand how an established theory like AMT might be suited to predict grit in athletes. If grit was demonstrating such success in predicting performance in and out of sport, I wanted to learn more about what we could do to facilitate “grittiness.”

At this point, the majority of research in this area has examined what grit can predict and why it is important. Only recently have researchers started to examine the psychosocial factors that may contribute to the development of grit. Although some studies have explored motivational correlates of grit, so far this research has largely existed outside of the sport context. My dissertation project hoped to fill that gap and served as the first study to empirically link a model of achievement motivation to grit in a sample of athletes. I was able to recruit over 500 NCAA student-athletes and conduct complex structural modeling to assess the extent to which achievement motivation constructs could account for college athletes’ grit. Not only did the structural model I hypothesized demonstrate adequate statistical fit, but it also accounted for 65% of the variance in grit. I’m grateful to AASP for believing in this research and recognizing the value in understanding how athletes, coaches, and CMPCs can influence the promotion of healthy and successful outcomes.

My findings indicate that achievement motivation theory is an appropriate framework through which we can better understand grit and its development. Practically, my research demonstrates that communicating the importance of personal growth and mastery may help athletes view sustained effort in their pursuit of a long-term goal as beneficial and worthwhile, thereby fostering a perspective that is consistent with grit. Coaches who can promote mastery-involving climates can create environments that positively influence the development of athletes’ grit. Those working with athletes and teams can encourage athletes to adopt self-referenced and growth-oriented perspectives regarding success and failure. I’m hopeful that my research can continue to inform how we practice and how we help athletes reach their full potential.

Coincidentally, my dissertation project instilled in me a greater appreciation for discipline and grit for myself. My advisor, Dr. Trent Petrie, was incredibly supportive of me constructing this study from start to finish. I applied for a number of grants to fund the 520 student-athletes who participated in my study, and I reached out to coaches and athletic departments across the country to recruit those athletes. I was reminded of the value of teamwork when I needed help connecting with athletic departments at different universities and collecting data from large teams. I know colleagues at other institutions who talk about how competitive peers can be. I only ever experienced the opposite in relation to my research. I always knew I could consult with my peers and Dr. Petrie to help clarify my thoughts or flush out my methodology. If anything, being in a positive and self-referenced research team allowed me to feel prepared to take on my dissertation and a project of this size. Remembering the “why” of my research was also incredibly helpful to remain positive and motivated during the long journey. It could feel easy to get lost in the numbers and the stress of staying on schedule, but I always tried to remain focused on the bigger picture. I’m excited to share what I’ve learned from my dissertation with AASP and others in the field to promote messages of commitment, effort, and personal growth. 

AASP has played a significant role in my development. I started attending Annual Conferences my senior year of college and have presented research consistently throughout my graduate training, most recently coordinating a symposium with professionals from universities across the country at the AASP Conference in Toronto. I’ve also been fortunate to receive several travel grants and research grants from AASP that have provided me with opportunities to conduct and present my research. These conferences have also allowed me to network with colleagues, which has been particularly helpful as I near the end of my graduate program and prepare to begin my career as a CMPC® and psychologist.

Looking forward, I recently became certified as a mental performance consultant earlier this summer. After I complete my doctoral internship, I plan to pursue licensure as a psychologist. I’m currently working on a college campus and would like to continue working with the collegiate population and with student-athletes in a mental health context. Through my work, I'd like to play a role in helping reduce mental health stigma in sport.

In closing, my advice for young academics would be to find supportive peers and advisors. Graduate programs are stressful and nearly impossible to get through without a team around you. Even when completing your own research, remember you have others to lean on. I’d also recommend finding projects that inspire you and draw on your passions. Not only is it easier to stay motivated and engaged, it’s also more fulfilling. Just remember why you got into this work in the first place and keep your eyes on the bigger picture. There will be bumps in the road as your progress through your training, for sure. If you’re willing to view them as challenges and learning opportunities, I think you’ll find growth and success in this field.

Conclusion
To conclude, Erin’s narrative shows that conducting an outstanding dissertation can be a challenging endeavor. That said, with positivity, a good support network, team working skills, and some bigger-picture thinking, she has been able to create an original and significant program of research. Erin’s robust and novel work, which involved recruiting over 500 NCAA athletes and conducting complex structural modeling to analyze the data, has identified that achievement motivation constructs can account for a large proportion of variance in an athlete’s grit. Over and above empirical contributions, her program of work also offers a variety of practical implications for communicating the importance of personal growth and facilitating environments that promote mastery and subsequent sustained effort in the pursuit of long-term goals.