Team Regulatory Strategies and Performance in Elite Handball. Issue 1 (2nd January 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Debanne, Thierry; Volossovitch, Anna
• Is Part Of: Research quarterly for exercise and sport. Volume 94:Issue 1(2023)
• Page Start: 151
• Page End: 162
• Publication Date: 2023-01-02
• Subjects: Motivation -- self-regulation -- reward structure -- regulatory focus -- regulatory fit; Physical education and training -- Periodicals; Health education -- Periodicals; Recreation -- Periodicals; Physical Education and Training -- Periodicals; Sports -- Periodicals; Exercise -- Periodicals; Education -- Periodicals; Lichamelijke opvoeding; Sport; Exercice -- Périodiques; Sports -- Périodiques; 613.7105
• DOI: 10.1080/02701367.2021.1948955
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0270-1367

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Purposes: The purposes of this research were: 1) in a preliminary study, to identify regulatory strategies used by players and coaches according to situation reward structure (Gains vs. Losses); and 2) in the main study, to analyze the effect of the interaction between situation reward structure (Gains vs. Losses) and regulatory strategy (Prevention vs. Promotion) on team performance (scoring a goal) in real-world settings. Methods and Results: In the preliminary study, 25 adult male handball players and 19 coaches playing and coaching at national level in the French championships completed a version of the Regulatory Focus Strategies Scales after reading four handball game scenarios (two gain-oriented and two loss-avoidance oriented). Two-way ANOVA with repeated measures revealed that when the reward structure was gain-oriented, participants had higher scores in promotion regulatory strategy than in prevention regulatory strategy, and conversely. For the main study, a sample of 199 game phases was selected from 84 games played in the Lidl Star League (2017–2018 season). Mixed method analysis revealed a significant team regulatory fit effect, that is an interaction effect between reward structure and regulatory focus strategy on team performance. When there was a fit, both in loss-avoidance oriented and gain-oriented reward structure, performance was higher (OR = 1.64 and OR = 0.86, respectively) than when there was a mismatch (OR = 0.59 and OR = 0.27). Conclusion: These results confirm the applicability of the Regulatory Fit Theory in a real-world setting with professional players, and extend grounded social cognition research regulatory fit literature to team level.