| Abstrakt: |
The purpose of this study was to examine various mental health associations among athletes who reported a unitive experience. Unitive experiences are spontaneously occurring states of consciousness characterized by a sense of unity or "oneness" that transcends sensory or cognitive apprehension. Literature suggests positive effects of unitive experience on various aspects of mental health and well-being in the general population, and this present study explored some of these relationships within an athlete population. It contributes further understanding regarding some of the mental health outcomes associated with unitive experiences in athletes, which may be of use to both researchers, clinicians, coaches, and athletes. A quantitative methodology was used to assess unitive experience as a possible predictor for reduced sport-related anxiety, higher intrinsic motivation, lower extrinsic motivation and amotivation, as well as improved subjective well-being in male and female athletes of various sports and sport levels. As mixed results exist in the literature surrounding sex differences in mental health outcomes, sex differences in these variables were also assessed. Results suggest that unitive experience predicts higher sport-related mental health in athletes, demonstrating that athletes who scored high on a unitive experience measure scored lower on sport-related anxiety, higher on subjective well-being, higher on intrinsic motivation, and lower on amotivation measures. Further, female athletes reported higher occurrences of unitive experience compared to male athletes. These data expand our current understanding of the role of transpersonal experience and states of consciousness within the realm of sport. Implications for research, education, and clinical practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
