The Perception of Self-Efficacy in Parasports Athletes

Abstract

Self-efficacy plays a fundamental role in sports performance, but it is still little explored in the area of parasports. This research aimed to understand the perception of self-efficacy in athletics para-athletes. Interviews were carried out with 8 athletics para-athletes with physical and visual disabilities aged between 22 and 64 years old. Participants have an average of 8 years of experience in parasport. In data collection, a sociodemographic questionnaire and an adapted semi-structured interview on the perception of self-efficacy were used, relating how sources of personal experience, vicarious learning, verbal persuasion and physiological state are perceived by para-athletes. Among the main contributions of the study carried out is the evidence that the categories of verbal persuasion and vicarious learning are more frequent among athletes and showed greater similarity of terms between participants. Furthermore, it was also possible to verify that the role of the coach is fundamental to the development of the self-efficacy belief, therefore the way in which he interacts with the para-athletes, whether through guidance or reception, directly influences self-perceptions that can be assimilated as positive or negative. negative by the individual. There is a clear need to carry out new studies that encourage appropriate strategies to work on levels of self-efficacy with para-athletes.