Displays of Emotions and Their Impact in Competitive Sports

Competitive sports are a breeding ground for emotions (Friesen et al., 2013). Athletes feel and display emotions including excitement about an upcoming match, disappointment about performance, or happiness when scoring a goal or making a basket. These emotions can also come from coaches, where examples of theatrical emotional outbursts and emotional motivational speeches easily come to mind. Where most work on emotions in sports has focused on the individual who feels the emotion and how it impacts performance, we focus on the interpersonal impact of emotion displays. Drawing on the Emotions as Social Information (EASI) theory (van Kleef, 2016; van Kleef, Homan, & Cheshin, 2012), we demonstrate in two separate research projects how displays of emotions of players and coaches have an impact on other athletes. More specifically we look at the information that can be gleaned from emotional displays.

The first project examined emotion displays of baseball pitchers. As reported in Cheshin, Heerdink, Kossakowski & van Kleef (2016), using data from professional baseball games we found that displays of emotion of baseball pitchers before a pitch provide consistent inferences regarding an upcoming pitch. The method of this study was threefold. First, students assessed the emotion displays from videos of baseball pitchers in real games. Based on student agreements videos with pitchers displaying emotions of happiness, anger and worry were identified. Second, another student sample was asked to view the videos and predict various aspects regarding the pitch (speed, accuracy, difficulty and whether the batter will swing). We consistently found that inferences regarding the pitch were made based on the emotions in the videos. Third, we looked at the actual game results and whether there was a relationship between the emotion displays and the actual outcome of the pitch and whether the predictions of the students were accurate. We found that when the pitcher was perceived to be happy there was a greater likelihood for the batter to attempt to swing at the pitch.

In the second project we examined emotion display of coaches in youth sports teams of baseball, softball and soccer. Players and coaches filled out surveys regarding the coach`s emotional display and their own feelings before the game and at breaks during the game. The data provide evidence of emotional linkage between coaches and players while controlling for the game success. Moreover, coaches` emotional expressions predicted players` performance inferences as well as impacted team performance.

Together both of these studies demonstrate the social influence of emotions in sports. Thus, the emotions that are displayed by players and coaches have an effect on the thoughts, feelings, actions and ultimately performance of other athletes. Understanding the social impact of emotion is imperative for players, coaches and sport educators.