Sports Psychology and Sociology

Because there are many ways in which we can apply psychology to sport and, given the wide range of activities that different cultures regard as sport, it is helpful to adopt quite a broad definition of sport psychology. In 1996, the European Federation of Sport Psychology (FEPSAC) produced such a broad definition, which, slightly simplified, reads, 'Sport psychology is the study of the psychological basis, processes and effects of sport.' This of course begs the questions, what is sport and what is psychology? Although many athletes would insist that sport necessarily includes an element of competition, the term 'sport' is used, both in the FEPSAC definition of sport psychology, and throughout this book, in the broadest sense, including any physical activity for the purposes of competition, recreation, education or health.