ABSTRACT
This chapter explores some potentially fruitful new directions for research in sport psychology. It evaluates the origin, nature and main assumptions of the paradigm that has dominated psychology for several decades: namely, the cognitive approach to mind and behaviour. The chapter explores two new directions in sport psychology that are prompted by theoretical alternatives to the standard paradigms in psychology. The first of these approaches is the embodiment movement which challenges the traditional cognitive paradigm by arguing that bodily states and bodily dynamics exert a profound, if somewhat neglected, influence on human experience and behaviour. The second theoretical approach which is examined is the cultural perspective which argues that cultural aspects of race, ethnicity and gender – all of which have been neglected historically by mainstream psychology – are vital in sculpting people's identity and experience.
