The way we think about ourselves and our abilities is called your implicit self-theory. It is not a scientific theory, but more what one personally believes about themselves. Some people believe that their abilities can change and improve over time with effort and practice. Others believe that their abilities are fixed and do not change much.
These beliefs can affect things like how motivated you are, how well you learn, and how you behave in certain activities or when you achieve something (Dweck, 2000). For example, if one believes they can improve their abilities, they might work harder and stay engaged in activities to get better. On the other hand, if they believe that abilities are fixed, they might give up easily and disengage when things get tough.
There are different opinions about these beliefs, especially when it comes to sports (Côté & Erikson, 2016; Wattie & Baker, 2017). Some think that becoming really good at sports is all about practicing a lot and training hard. Others believe it’s mostly about having natural talent from the start.
These beliefs not only matter for athletes but also for coaches, parents, and even teachers and exercise instructors in physical education or activities. What one believes about abilities can influence how they support and guide others in their learning and development.
Côté, J., & Erikson, K. (2016). Athlete development. In R. J. Schinke, K. R. McGannon, & B. Smith (Eds.), Routlegde international handbook of sport psychology (pp. 128 137). New York: Routlegde.
Dweck, C. S. (2000). Self-theories: Their role in motivation, personality, and development. Philadelphia: Psychology Press.
Wattie, N., & Baker, J. (2017). Why conceptualizations of tal- ent matter: Implications for skill acquisition and talent identification and development. In J. Baker, S. Cobley, J. Schorer, & N. Wattie (Eds.), Routlegde Handbook of talent identification and development in sport (pp. 69 79). New York: Routlegde.
