Cultural sport psychology, or CSP, comprises a
series of methodological and practical approaches to
the field that centralize the identities of both client
and sport psychologist (McGannon & Johnson, 2009).
CSP diverges from a singular approach to sport psychology
intended to transcend all aspects of culture.
The origins of this term date to Schinke, Michel,
Danielson, and Gauthier (2005), where the authors
cited previous scholarship originating in relation to the
topics of feminism and race theory. The emergence of
CSP is reflected in three subapproaches. Cross cultural
scholarship is used to compare athletes, often based on
a single cultural characteristic, such as nationality, in
relation to a particular skill, such as self-talk (Peters &
Williams, 2006). This approach is also commonly
used in practice, where athletes across various origins
might be introduced to common mental skills, such as
imagery or goal setting. There are also cultural psychology
approaches, where emphasis is placed on a
single group of people, such as African American athletes
(Parham, 1993). Often, the focus within these
approaches is on the experiences of a single group of
participants or clients (see Schinke et al., 2006).
Practically, the sport psychology consultant might
focus on developing a nuanced approach to communication
with a targeted group of athletes based on
specific cultural characteristics. Cultural studies
approaches are utilized to centralize the emancipatory
efforts that might be achieved through sport psychology
initiatives (Ryba & Wright, 2005). The development
of CSP is rapidly expanding, with featured
special issues found in the International Journal of
Sport and Exercise Psychology (Autumn, 2009), the
Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology (December,
2011), Psychology of Sport and Exercise (January,
2015), and the Journal of Sport Psychology in Action
(in press). The benefits from this emerging topic area
include the centralization of sport and physical activity
participants’ identities, tailored research approaches
that focus on localized practices, and, more generally,
tailored approaches in the field, to match with the
needs of a global sport psychology community; taking
into account perspectives and practices from each continent,
region, and community.
