ABSTRACT
This chapter explains psychological pressure more broadly, as athletes’ perceptions of chronic and pervasive demands placed upon them that are either directly or indirectly related to sport performance. It draws on both psychological and sociological literature to discuss the nature of psychological pressure for high-level athletes in various competitive settings, as well as the psychosocial health implications of excessive pressure. Within high-level sport, the notion of psychological pressure is often used reductively to connote specific competitive situations in which athletes’ immediate performance determines success or failure in a high-stakes evaluative setting. Inherent to life as a high-level athlete is the expectation of consistently strong performance across varied competitive situations, while simultaneously maintaining a balanced life and serving as a positive role model. In the early 1990s, J. Coakley brought the issue of a performance-focus to the forefront in papers on burnout in youth sport and positive deviance in high-level athletes.
