MURAL - Maynooth University Research Archive Library



    Practicing What We Preach: Investigating the Role of Social Support in Sport Psychologists’ Well-Being


    McCormack, Hannah M., MacIntyre, Tadhg, O’Shea, Deirdre, Campbell, Mark J. and Igou, Eric R. (2015) Practicing What We Preach: Investigating the Role of Social Support in Sport Psychologists’ Well-Being. Frontiers in Psychology, 6. ISSN 1664-1078

    [thumbnail of fpsyg-06-01854.pdf]
    Preview
    Text
    fpsyg-06-01854.pdf
    Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike.

    Download (344kB) | Preview

    Abstract

    Well-being and mental health of psychologists and their clients can be strongly linked to the psychologists’ experience of work. We know from general theories of occupational health psychology that certain work factors will have a greater impact on well-being than others. Work engagement is positively related with occupational health, while burnout and workaholic tendencies relate negatively. An individual’s resources can buffer against these negative effects. Specifically, the environmental resource of social support can impede the impact and instance of workaholism and has a positive influence on burnout. Social support is often encouraged by sport psychologists in protecting an athlete’s well-being. Drawing on theory and research from work and organizational, health and social psychology we explore the lived experiences of burnout and work engagement among applied sport psychologists, investigating their perceptions of how these experiences impact their well-being. Thirty participants from five countries were asked, using semi-structured interviews, to recall specific incidents when feelings of work engagement and burnout occurred. We examined the influence of social support and its impact on these incidents. Thematic analysis revealed that burnout is frequently experienced despite high levels of work engagement. Sources of social support differ between groups of high burnout versus low burnout, as does reference to the dimensions of work engagement. Avenues for future research including investigating the role of mindfulness and therapeutic lifestyle changes for practitioners are outlined.
    Item Type: Article
    Keywords: Investigating; Role; Social Support; Sport Psychologists’ Well-Being;
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Science and Engineering > Psychology
    Item ID: 19793
    Identification Number: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01854
    Depositing User: Tadhg Mac Intyre
    Date Deposited: 12 May 2025 13:09
    Journal or Publication Title: Frontiers in Psychology
    Publisher: Frontiers Media
    Refereed: Yes
    Related URLs:
    URI: https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/19793
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

    Repository Staff Only (login required)

    Item control page
    Item control page

    Downloads

    Downloads per month over past year

    Origin of downloads