A Qualitative Study of the Thinking Process from the Failure Experience in a Game to the Next Game in Competitive Situations: From the Perspective of Metacognitive Therapy

In this study, we analyzed the process of maintaining and changing thoughts and behaviors between the experience of failure in a specific game and the next game based on the technique of TEM, and we named and discussed the contents of the synthesized TEM diagram from the perspective of metacognitive therapy (MCT). We interviewed nine sports competitors in their student age who had experienced failures in team competitions in the past and had dragged them out until the next game and summarized their experiences in a Trajectory Equifinality Model (TEM) diagram. The results of the analysis showed that the state of Cognitive Attentional Syndrome (CAS) which is regarded as a main problem in MCT, decreases performance. In addition, functional coping behaviors were shown to improve performance, resulting in the acquisition of Detached Mindfulness (DM) states. The results suggest that it is useful to examine the psychological factors that contribute to performance decline and improvement from the perspective of MCT, and to support performance improvement through MCT. In the future, it will be necessary to explore unhelpful coping behaviors in sports situations using behavioral assessment tests for anxiety that deal with unhelpful coping behaviors, and to examine how these behaviors affect performance through psychoeducation and interventions based on DM techniques.