The Impact of Time Perspective Training on Psychological Variables among Taekwondo Athletes

Pages: 258-263
Chengol Mallesham1 and Thipparapu Rajesh2 (Selection Centre Central, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh1 and Department of Psychology, Mizoram University, Aizawl, Mizoram2)

The objective of the present study is to study the impact of training about time perspective on Taekwondo athletes’ time profiles, sports anxiety throughout physical activity, aggressive behaviour, and positive and negative experiences. The study was carried out by employing a single group pre-training and post-training experimental design. Six athletes (1 female & 5 males) underwent six time-perspective training sessions over the course of three weeks. A questionnaire which measures time perspective, a questionnaire which measures aggressive behaviour, physical activity questionnaire and sport anxiety questionnaire, and a questionnaire of positive and negative experiences were used to conduct pre and post-tests for the athletes. The Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test was employed, and its results indicated that a statistically significant difference in future time attitude, anxiety (physical activity as well as sport), and hostile behaviour. The post-test revealed significantly lower scores for the Future-Positive time attitude, but significantly higher scores for sport anxious individuals during physical activity, as well as hostile behaviour than the pre-test scores. Emphasising on a certain area of time profile may contribute to negative repercussions by fuelling anxiety (physical activity & sport) and hostility among the Taekwondo athletes. Hence, the psychologists and coaches need to design psychological interventions that include ideal time profiles, to give participants opportunities and experience handling the past, present, and future associated with their training and competitions in a practical way.