Influence of sex and sport skill type on imagery use among division III athletes.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequency of imagery use among National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III collegiate athletes. Additionaly, the influence of athlete sex and sport skill type was examined. A sample of 337 athletes from 15 different sports participated in the study. The Sport Imagery Questionnaire was administered to assess the frequency of imagery use between males and females as well as open-skill sport and closed-skill sport athletes. Multiple regression analyses indicated that male athletes as well as open-skill athletes use imagery more frequently than female athletes and closed-skill sport athletes, respectively. However, the low amount of variation explained by the data makes it hard to produce definitive predictions. It is likely that individual differences, such as efficacy and ability, play a larger role in predicting imagery use in sport.