The article under consideration focuses on such issues as athletic injury, and its psychological consequences. The author studies the differences in reaction to traumas between men and women. It is necessary to discuss this work from several perspectives, namely, the methods of data collection, employed by the researcher, the results, and most importantly, possible applications of these findings.
In his research article Psychological Response to Athletic Injuries: Gender Differences, Vincent Granito examines the way in which men and women react to traumas. In particular, the author studies the peculiarities of male and female behavior. The scholar focuses on such aspects as relations with coaches, relatives, and concerns for future health. This work throws new light on the problems of athletic injury and gives helpful tips for overcoming this obstacle.
As regards the methods, employed by the author, it should be pointed out that Vincent Granito gives preference to the qualitative approach, namely to the unstructured interview. Thirty-one participants (fifteen men and sixteen women) were interviewed about the feelings which they have after the injury. It should be borne in mind that the athletes answer the questions several times at various stages of the disease. The participants represented various sports such as soccer, volleyball, basketball, etc. Moreover, they had a wide range of traumas. The researcher discusses this issue from a cognitive perspective, which means that occasionally people may perceive reality in a distorted way, and thus they are inclined to experience the lack of social support, though it may not necessarily be true.
The results obtained in this work can be subdivided into several categories. First, we should speak about relations with coaches. The oral response of athletes indicated that women were not dissatisfied with the attitude of their trainers. In their opinion, they could have been more sympathetic. One of the female participants said, “I became invisible to the coaches” (Granito, p 1). Vincent Granito states that under some circumstances this perceived lack of sympathy may lead to further alienation between the partners. In sharp contrast with women, male athletes were more task-oriented and tried to cope with the difficulty as soon as possible. The scholar presumes that probably, these differences are mostly motivated by the way in which both genders perceive their relationships with other people.
In order to substantiate this statement, Vincent Granito analyzes the attitude of the opposite sex. For instance, the vast majority of male participants believed that they had received sufficient support from their girlfriends, whereas, women were convinced in their belief that their near ones could have been more attentive and sympathetic.
The author concludes that such behavior can be ascribed by the sensitivity or even vulnerability of female athletes. He suggests that, unlike males, they are somewhat self-oriented, which subsequently leads to the perceived lack of social support. In comparison with them, men attach primary importance to the task they set. They are trying to overcome the difficulty, and probably, this is the reason why it is easier for them to pass through this period. The ideas, expressed in this work, are very interesting because Vincent Granito discusses injuries from a psychological standpoint. Nonetheless, it is worth mentioning that some aspects are rather dubious. First, the scholar employs only unstructured interviews, a qualitative research method, which involves subjective evaluation of the data. In addition to that, we cannot forget about the so-called interviewer effect: the subjects always act differently or even unnaturally in the presence of the researcher. It seems that Vincent Granito could have employed a written interview or probably a statistical survey.
On the whole, this work can prove rather helpful to exercise science professors because on its basis one can develop strategies for overcoming the psychological consequences of a physical injury. This pattern can be applied not only to athletes but to other people as well.
Bibliography
Vincent J. Granito. Psychological Response to Athletic Injury: Gender Differences. Journal of Sport Behavior, (25), 3, p 245-248, 2002.