Stress Research in Sport Psychology
Three Limitations and Future Directions

Although criticism of the quality and methods of sport psychology research is not new (Martens, 1987), recently a flourishing academic debate has evolved regarding the quality of sport research (Culver, 2012; Sparkes, 2015).

Sport psychology research initially focused on high-level competitive athletes (Morgan, 1985); however, most studies have been conducted with convenience samples of non-athletes/college students. This approach has been criticized for increasing the volume of studies while making little contribution to knowledge of professional athletes (Craft et al., 2003). Future research should aim for higher ecological validity, by moving from the laboratory to the field setting (Feltz & Lirgg, 2001) of professional athletes.

Previous studies of stressors within the professional athlete population are mostly performance-related (Mellalieu et al., 2009). Such a focus creates the impression that research into the well-being and psychological functioning of athletes exists only in the service of better performance. Future research should stem from more holistic theories of stress process (e.g., COR theory; Hobfoll, 1998).

Another research limitation is related to the focus on differences between athletes, rather than differences within athletes (Martens, 1987), such as exploring the unique dispositions that make an athlete successful (Tok et al., 2013). The limitations of such an approach were criticized for studying large groups superficially rather than individuals in depth (Morgan, 1980). Further research should be more dedicated to the exploration of state-like dispositions within individuals. This will help to understand not only why some thrive more than others, but also what enables a particular athlete to thrive.