Do encouragement and other forms of social support affect the performance of athletes? According to recent research (Rees et al., 2007), they certainly do. In their investigation, the researchers evaluated the stress, social support, and performance of 117 amateur golfers. The results indicated that stress led to decreased performance while social support led to improved performance.
While these findings suggest that social support positively affects the performance of golfers, they may also be applicable to contexts beyond sports, perhaps to organizations and employees. If interventions consisting of increased social support can help struggling athletes, perhaps they can also help improve the job performance of employees in the workplace.
Rees, T., Hardy, L., & Freeman, P. (2007). Stressors, social support, and effects upon performance in golf. Journal of Sports Sciences, 25(1), 33–42.
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