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An investigation into whether physical characteristics of sports psychologists’ influence potential clients’ preference to work with them and perceptions of their effectiveness
Abstract   Peer reviewed

An investigation into whether physical characteristics of sports psychologists’ influence potential clients’ preference to work with them and perceptions of their effectiveness

S Cotterill, A Brady, J K Parker and Geoff Lovell
Journal of Sports Sciences, Vol.25(2), pp.S98-S98
Annual Conference of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences, 2007 (Bath, United Kingdom, 12-Sep-2007–14-Sep-2007)
2007
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410701619937
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https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410701619937View
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Abstract

Human Movement and Sports Science sports psychologists
Counsellors’ physical characteristics, such as obesity and demographic similarity with client, have been shown to influence patients’ perceptions of their counsellor’s effectiveness which potentially mediate the efficacy of subsequent interventions (Hash et al., 2003: Preventive Medicine, 36, 41 – 44).The purpose of this investigation was to explore whether physical characteristics of sports psychologists, specifically body mass index (BMI) and type of dress, influences potential clients’ preference to work with them and perceptions of their effectiveness. Seventy-six volunteers (Male, n¼37, Age mean 19.5, s¼1.4 years; Female, n¼39, Age mean 21.00, s¼5.4) viewed four concurrently presented computer generated images of the same female sports psychologist dressed in sports attire manipulated to represent a range of BMI’s (23, 28, 33, and 38 kg/m2) typifying four World Health Organisation classifications of obesity (normal, pre-obese, obese class I, and obese class II). Participants were asked to rank the sports psychologists in order of their preference to work with them, and secondly, to rate their perceived effectiveness of each of the sports psychologists on a 7-point Likert scale. The second slide concurrently presented two image of the preobese sports psychologist; one dressed formally, the other in sports attire. Participants were again asked to rank and rate the sports psychologists in terms of preference and perceived effectiveness. Results demonstrated that participants’ ranking of preference and rating of perceived effectiveness of the normal range and pre-obese sports psychologists were significantly higher than the class I and II obese sports psychologists, F3, 225¼53.31, P50.001 and F3, 225¼175.13, P50.001, respectively. Participants also ranked and rated the sportily dressed sports psychologist significantly higher than the formally dressed sports psychologist F1, 75¼11.80, P50.001 and F1, 75¼6.00, P50.05, respectively. Results show that sports psychologists’ physical characteristics do influence potential clients’ preference to work with them and perceptions of their effectiveness. Implications of these findings include that sports psychologists should consider their physical appearance when meeting with sports performers. This relationship is likely to be complex, including factors such as gender as well as expected social etiquette and physique associated with the client’s sport, justifying further research.

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