Ken Hodge

• PhD
• Professor (Full) at University of Otago

Objective Interpersonal violence (IV) in sport is challenging to define, prevent and remedy due to its subjectivity and complexity. The 2024 International Olympic Committee Consensus on Interpersonal Violence and Safeguarding aimed to synthesise evidence on IV and safeguarding in sport, introduce a new conceptual model of IV in sport and offer more...

Flow research has primarily focused on singular optimal state models (e.g., flow, peak experience), often in traditional sport or work contexts. This study investigated a proposed alternative model encompassing distinct optimal experiences (i.e., flow and clutch) via sequential studies across diverse nature-based adventure contexts (e.g., rockclimb...

ABSTRACT Adventure recreation is a growing form of leisure associated with optimal psychological states reported to involve intensely pleasant emotions, optimal functioning, and a sense of achievement or fulfilment. However, much of the research on this topic has primarily focused on singular optimal state models (e.g. flow, peak experience), whi...

Adventure participants have traditionally been viewed as having thrill or risk-seeking motives, and this perception remains despite empirical research suggesting that other motives may drive participation. This study was conducted to extend understanding of participation motives of adventure recreation participants in relation to Csiksentmihalyi's...

The growing popularity of adventure recreation highlights the need to understand its participants and the individual characteristics of these activities in order to target health and well-being outcomes through adventure leisure pursuits. While exploratory qualitative studies have questioned the centrality of risk and thrill in adventure recreation...

Research conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic underscores the value of physical activity and nature for psychological well-being in the general population when people’s mobility and activities are restricted due to government mandates. Since restrictions may thwart the psychological benefits reported from participation in adventure recreation (e....

Objectives Optimal psychological states (e.g., flow) are particularly valued by rock-climbers. The integrated model of flow and clutch states has shown promise for better understanding optimal states in sport psychology. The current study examined the antecedents, characteristics, and consequences of these states amongst rock-climbers in relation t...

The current study evaluated the degree to which nature-based physical activity (NPA) influenced two distinct types of psychological wellbeing: hedonic wellbeing and eudaimonic wellbeing. The type of motivation an individual experiences for physical activity, and the extent to which individuals have a sense of relatedness with nature, have been show...

Sport tourism literature has paid limited attention to the psychological well-being benefits derived from participating in this form of tourism. This is especially the case for adventure sport tourism, which is characterised by travel to a destination to participate in an adventure sport event, such as competitive surfing or mountain biking. Throug...

Covid-19 lockdown restrictions constitute a population-wide “life-change event” disrupting normal daily routines. It was proposed that as a result of these lockdown restrictions, physical activity levels would likely decline. However, it could also be argued that lifestyle disruption may result in the formation of increased physical activity habits...

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global event that has already had substantive negative impacts on psychological well-being. This study investigated the relationship between physical activity (PA) and psychological well-being during a country-wide COVID-19 lockdown in New Zealand. Motivational quality and PA context (nature-based or non-nature-based) wer...

The extent to which people expect to feel pleasure during exercise is proposed to influence an individual’s decision to be active. In order to identify the factors that shape this affective forecast for exercise, this study explored what people think about when creating their affective forecast for exercise. Thirty-one inactive participants provide...

Despite the documented positive outcomes of adventure experiences, subjective well-being (SWB) frameworks have been largely absent from discourse and analyses in adventure studies. This conceptual paper proposes a framework for understanding how adventure recreation experiences promote eudaemonic SWB. In our framework, we propose that adventure rec...

Despite the documented positive outcomes of adventure experiences, subjective well-being (SWB) frameworks have been largely absent from discourse and analyses in adventure studies. This conceptual paper proposes a framework for understanding how adventure recreation experiences promote eudaimonic SWB. In our framework we propose that adventure recr...

Objectives: Flow states may explain motivation for continued participation in adventure recreation (e.g., skydiving, kayaking). This review aimed to identify what is known about of flow states that occur during adventure recreation. Design Systematic review following PRISMA guidelines. Method: A systematic search of 10 databases (e.g., SPORTdiscu...

The aims of this investigation were to; (a) explore the ethical challenges that sport psychology consultants (SPCs) have experienced in their applied practice, and (b) examine the engagement of SPCs with monitoring and supervision of their applied practice. Ten experienced SPCs participated in individual interviews. Following content analysis, two...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of the constituent processes of psychological flexibility (contact with the present moment, acceptance, cognitive defusion, self-as-context, value clarification, and committed action) in supporting physical activity (PA) maintenance. A total of 9 physically active participants were interviewed u...

This study examined the relationships amongst coaching style (autonomy-supportive; controlling), athlete motivation (autonomous; controlled), sport commitment (enthusiastic; constrained), and intention to continue in sport. Participants were 154 competitive football/soccer players (M = 22.21 years). Partial least squares structural equation modelli...

This study examined the relationships among cognitive acceptance, behavioral commitment, psychological need satisfaction, autonomous extrinsic motivation (EM) for physical activity (PA), and PA behavior. Participants ( N = 456, Mage = 40.7 years) completed online measures of these variables, and data were analyzed using structural equation modeling...

The main outcome of this review will be to assess the frequency and intensity of flow states among adventure recreation participants. In order to comprehensively answer the main question in a systematic way, the following sub research questions are set: (1) Does the frequency or experience of flow states vary across different adventure recreation a...

The tall poppy syndrome (TPS) is a culturally specific term defined as the “habit of denigrating or ‘cutting down’ those who are successful or who are high achievers”. The purpose of this study was to understand TPS from the perspective of elite New Zealand athletes. Specifically, this study sought to gain elite athletes’ perceptions of whether TPS...

The purpose of this investigation was to; (a) examine what experienced SPCs perceived to be the necessary components of the sport psychology consulting relationship, and (b) examine individual contributions of the SPC and client to the consulting relationship. Purposeful sampling was used to recruit 10 experienced SPCs (8 male and 2 female, M age =...

The purpose of this investigation was to examine whether the relationships between contextual factors and basic psychological needs were related to antisocial and prosocial behavior in sport. A two-study project employing Bayesian path analysis was conducted with competitive athletes (Study 1, n = 291; Study 2, n = 272). Coach and teammate autonomy...

Contrary to self-determination theory (SDT) tenets, research indicates that controlled motivation towards sport may not be associated with maladaptive outcomes, if accompanied by high autonomous motivation. However, the measures of controlled motivation employed in many of these studies have been criticised for the lack of content validity (i.e. Sp...

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between motivational regulations and prosocial and antisocial behaviour in Masters sport. Participants were 147 Masters athletes (76 females; 71 males; mean age = 46.18 years) from four team sports (netball, n = 51; soccer, n = 45; basketball, n = 31; and ice hockey, n = 20) who completed qu...

This case study focused on pressure, stereotype threat, choking, and the coping experiences of the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team during the period from 2004-2011 leading into their success at the 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC). Employing a narrative approach this case study examined public expectation, pressure, and coach-led coping strategies desi...

Objectives Pelletier, Rocchi, Vallerand, Deci, and Ryan (2013) proposed a new version of the Sport Motivation Scale (SMS; Pelletier, Fortier, Vallerand, Tuson, & Blais, 1995) as a measure of different types of behavioral regulations in sport, as outlined in self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000). They examined various aspects of reliability...

People differ in their implicit theories about mental toughness, that is, whether they believe this quality is immutable (entity theorists) or changeable (incremental theorists). The aim of this study was to explore whether peoples' implicit theories of mental toughness are related to cognitive, motivational, and behavioral variables considered as...

This case study focused on the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team during the period from 2004 to 2011, when Graham Henry (head coach) and Wayne Smith (assistant coach) coached and managed the team. More specifically, this case study examined the motivational climate created by this coaching group that culminated in winning the Rugby World Cup in 201...

The purpose of this investigation was to examine what experienced sport psychology consultants (SPCs) believed to be essential for consulting effectiveness at elite sport competitions (i.e., pinnacle sporting events). A purposeful sampling method was used to recruit 10 experienced SPCs (8 male and 2 female, M age = 50.44 years, M years consulting e...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the components necessary for the development of an effective applied sport psychology consulting relationship between a sport psychology consultant (SPC) and a coach. To address this purpose, two SPC-Coach consulting relationship case studies will be presented. Following purposeful sampling methods, memb...

The purpose of the article is to outline a comprehensive conceptual framework for life skills interventions by integrating aspects of Basic Needs Theory (BNT) and Life Development Intervention (LDI). In particular, we advocate the integration of (a) the three basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness and (b) the needs-suppo...

When suddenly immersed in cold water, humans typically exhibit the cold shock response, although training can attenuate hyperventilation. This study extends previous findings by considering the influence of physical activity to maintain buoyancy and subsequent swimming performance. Six inexperienced swimmers (three men and three women; mean age 22....

We examined whether constructs outlined in self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2002), namely, autonomy-supportive and controlling motivational climates and autonomous and controlled motivation, were related to attitudes toward performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in sport and drug-taking susceptibility. We also investigated moral disengagement as...

This study evaluated phases of adventure experiences by identifying flow and reversal theory states over a 3-day white-water river surfing course. Data were collected with novice river surfers (n = 5) via in-depth qualitative interviews using head-mounted video cameras. Findings suggested that "opposing" experiential phases (i.e., telic and paratel...

Team-building and team culture for the whole Olympic team? Why? Why bother? What is the value of such an exercise for a multidisciplinary Olympic team? The answer (we believe) is that the Olympics present 'unusual' challenges for athletes and coaches; consequently there is a clear need for different measures to cope with these different circumstanc...

A major dilemma that athletes typically face when preparing for and performing at pinnacle events such as the Olympics is that emphasis inevitably gets weighted towards desired outcomes (e.g., medals, podium, finishing order, comparative standings), particularly during the prolonged preparation periods, with the nation, media, sporting organization...

Sport psychology consulting with athletes who are from an indigenous ethnic group presents some challenges and opportunities that do not typically need to be considered when consulting with nonindigenous athletes. Māori¹ are the indigenous ethnic group of New Zealand. To work as a sport psychology consultant with Māori athletes and indeed any indig...

This study integrated flow theory and reversal theory perspectives to investigate a potential range of flow states amongst adventure participants in a sequence of two studies. Study one was conducted with expert (n = 6) adventure participants via retrospective interviews, while study two collected prospective data from novice whitewater riversurfer...

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the relationships between contextual factors (i.e., autonomy-supportive vs. controlling coaching style) and person factors (i.e., autonomous vs. controlled motivation) outlined in self-determination theory (SDT) were related to prosocial and antisocial behaviors in sport. We also investigated moral d...

The aim of this study was to examine sport psychology consultants’ (SPCs) perceptions of the influence of SPC characteristics on consultant effectiveness, while determining the conditions necessary for establishing an effective consulting relationship. Thirteen accredited SPCs participated in semi-structured interviews. Thematic content analysis id...

Objectives Employing a self-determination theory framework, the purpose of this project was to develop a measure of basic needs satisfaction in sport (autonomy, competence, and relatedness).Method Two studies were conducted to examine various aspects of reliability and validity. Hong Kong athletes (n = 273; mean age = 20.75 yrs) participated in Stu...

It is commonly believed that through sports, children and adolescents learn values and skills that will serve them well as they prepare for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, many youth sport programs are neither properly structured nor implemented in a manner that these life skills can be learned in sport and later transferred to other life d...

Using self-determination theory as the theoretical framework, we conducted a longitudinal investigation of the relationships between motivation and athlete burnout. We tested four hypotheses: H0: low self-determination (SD) does not precede burnout, and burnout does not precede low SD; H1: low SD precedes burnout; H2: burnout precedes low SD; and H...

In this exploratory study, we examined hypothesized antecedents (basic psychologi­cal needs) and consequences (dispositional flow) of athlete engagement (AE); plus the extent to which AE mediated the relationship between basic needs and flow. Struc­tural equation modeling with a sample of 201 elite Canadian athletes (60.20% female, mean age = 22.92...

Using self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) as the theoretical framework, we examined potential antecedents of athlete burnout in 201 elite Canadian athletes (121 females, 80 males; mean age 22.9 years). Employing a cross-sectional design, our primary aims were to investigate the relationships between behavioural regulations and athlete bur...

In this study, we examined the utility of self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 200249. Ryan , R. M. and Deci , E. L. 2002. “Overview of self-determination theory: An organismic dialectical perspective”. In Handbook of self-determination research, Edited by: Deci , E L and Ryan , R M . 3–33. Rochester, NY: The University of Rochester Press. V...

The purpose of the four studies described in this article was to develop and test a new measure of competitive sport participants' intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation (self-determination theory; Deci & Ryan, 1985). The items for the new measure, named the Behavioral Regulation in Sport Questionnaire (BRSQ), were constructed...

IntroductionKnowledge of Rugby: Intricacies of the SportTeam-Building Interventions For RugbyPsychological Skills Training (Pst) For Individual and Team TrainingSummary: “thinking Rugby”References

ObjectiveThis study examined the collective relationships amongst achievement goals, social goals and motivational correlates in Masters sport.MethodThe participants were 373 (184 females; 189 males) Masters athletes from six sports. Ages ranged from 29 years to 77 years (mean=48 years). Cluster analysis was employed to identify ‘goal profiles’ of...

Organizational psychologists have proposed that promoting employee engagement may be an effective way to prevent burnout. Researchers have identified vigor, dedication, efficacy, and absorption as potential employee engagement dimensions (Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001). However, no research has investigated athlete engagement (AE). This study...

Building from our qualitative investigation of elite New Zealand athletes (Lonsdale, Hodge, & Raedeke, 2007), this project had three purposes: (a) to develop a measure of core athlete engagement (AE) dimensions (confidence, dedication, and vigor), (b) to investigate the possibility that preoccupation and enjoyment are also core AE dimensions, and (...

To foster athletes' learning and to continue to learn as a coach, it is useful to reflect on the motivational climate developed through the coaching process The purpose of this paper is to provide a synthesis of research concerning the motivational climate fostered by coaches that extends existing notions of the motivational climate beyond competen...

The purpose of this study was to compare participant responses to a questionnaire delivered via the Internet with data collected using a traditional paper and pencil format distributed via postal mail. Athletes (N = 214, mean age 26.53 years) representing 18 sports from the New Zealand Academy of Sport were randomly assigned into two groups and com...

The aim of this study was to use the Sport Psychology Attitudes-Revised (SPA-R) questionnaire (Martin, Kellman, Lavallee & Page, 2002) to develop an understanding of the attitudes elite New Zealand athletes (N = 112) hold towards sport psychology so that services can be tailored to accommodate these views. The influence of athlete characteristics s...

The current research assesses relationships among coping skills, trait sport confidence, and trait anxiety. Two samples (n = 47 and n = 77) of international competitors from surf life saving (M = 23.7 yr.) and touch rugby (M = 26.2 yr.) completed the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory, Trait Sport Confidence Inventory, and Sport Anxiety Scale. Analys...

This paper proposes using the rich visual "language" of Hägerstrand's time geography to represent time-space relationships in sport, in particular within the spatial and temporal constraints of a game of rugby. Despite being applied outside of its traditional social context, it is argued that time geography's ability to model movements and relation...

Considerable evidence exists to support the positive physical and mental health benefits that accrue from participation in sport and physical activity (ISSP, 1992; US Surgeon General Report, 1996). There are many reasons young athletes give for participating in sport: having fun, seeking affiliation, demonstrating power, improving skills, pursuing...

The use of computer software as an aid to rugby, and sports coaching in general, is becoming increasingly utilized. Videoed sport is the most widely used form of raw data for sports analysis, though it is currently not being used to its full potential. Patterns of player movement and position, both for individuals and groupings of players, are impo...

This investigation compared cluster analysis with the mean-split procedure for examining goal-orientation profiles and examined whether the goal-profile groups revealed differences in athletes' perceptions of their physical abilities. 257 rugby players (14–39 yrs) completed a questionnaire assessing goal orientation, perceived rugby ability and com...

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the extent to which athletes used similar coping strategies in response to various acute stressors as a function of culture and gender. College students from the southeast U.S. (N = 296, M age = 20.7 yrs) and from New South Wales, Australia (N = 337, M age = 20.6 yrs) who were currently competing at variou...

Examined the use and status of sport psychology in New Zealand. 46 coaches and 68 athletes completed questionnaires that assessed their perceptions of sport psychology. Ss indicated the importance of and the success they felt they had in changing and/or developing 21 psychological skills. Ss were also asked about their actual use of sport psycholog...

The present investigation examined athletes’ responses to a psychological skills training program spanning a 3-month period. Two studies were conducted to evaluate the degree to which a week-long psychological skills training program changed elite wrestlers’ knowledge, perceived importance, and use of relaxation, visualization/imagery, goal setting...

The present investigation was designed to develop a profile of the coaching education background and self-perceived coaching education needs of elite U.S. amateur sport coaches. In all, 130 national team, Pan American, and/or Olympic coaches representing more than 30 U.S. Olympic structure sports were surveyed. Results revealed that the coaches wer...

Two studies assessed the degree to which elite coaches use 13 strategies to influence self-efficacy in athletes and coaches' evaluations of the effectiveness of those strategies. Study 1 included 101 intercollegiate wrestling coaches and Study 2 included 124 national team coaches. Questionnaire data from both studies indicate that the performance b...

101 intercollegiate wrestling coaches completed a survey concerning the importance of, use of, frequency of problems arising with, and degree of success experienced in changing or developing 21 psychological skills. Mental toughness, positive attitude, individual motivation, and attention-concentration were judged to be most important for success i...

The use of computer software as an aid to rugby, and sports coaching in general, is well established. Videoed sport is the most widely used form of raw data for sports analysis, though it is currently not being used to its full potential. Patterns of player movement and position, both for individuals and groupings of players, are important for unde...