ABSTRACT

This paper explores the dynamics of extrinsic pressure in sport and its relation to athletic excellence. We argue that psychological pressure exerted by activities extrinsic to sport can be relevant to success or failure in it, such that how one manages extrinsic pressures can transmit to failure to perform in sport and thus be a determinant to victory, with no reason to think failure mitigated by the non-sporting nature of one’s other behaviour. To make this argument we offer a series of examples to test intuitions about what constitutes sporting excellence and what constitutes sporting failure. On the basis of these examples, we offer a categorization of pressures in sport and argue that psychological pressure from almost any area of life may be relevant to competition, whether intrinsic or extrinsic to the sporting contest. We substantiate this claim by proposing a framework for adjudicating the relevance of extrinsic pressures to sporting performance by appealing to the internal goods of each sport and their contribution to flourishing.

摘要

本文探讨了运动中外在压力的动态及其与运动卓越的关系。我们认为，运动外在活动施加的心理压力可能与运动的成功或失败有关，因此一个人如何管理外在压力可以传递到在运动中表现不佳，从而成为胜利的决定因素，没有理由认为失败被其他行为的非体育性质所减轻。为了提出这个论点，我们提供了一系列例子来测试关于什么构成运动卓越以及什么构成运动失败的直觉。在这些例子的基础上，我们提供了体育压力的分类，并认为来自生活几乎任何领域的心理压力都可能与竞争有关，无论是体育比赛的内在还是外在。