What Is Human Performance Psychology?

What is human performance psychology? What are the core aspects of human performance and how can we utilise them to produce continuous improvement in life and work? How can we apply psychological principles to manage stress, relieve anxiety and deliver elite-level performance in business, career and sport? How can we find success and happiness?

With the help of contemporary research and established theory and practice, these are the questions that I attempt to answer. Physiology and neurology, of course, come into play. However, we are primarily concerned with the psychological aspects of human performance. My hope is that you may use the information you find here to your advantage, and realise the success and happiness you've been seeking.

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The Psychology of Performance

Academics, practitioners and writers on the subject use many terms to describe the practical work and study of peak human behaviour. Umbrella terms such as performance psychology, performance science, peak performance, human performance, and so on, are often used interchangeably to capture the essence of this phenomenon. However, this growing field of study and practice encompasses many different domains of research such as Physiology, Biomechanics, Psychology, Sociology, Strength & Conditioning, Rehabilitation and Performance Analytics. Human Performance as it pertains to the psychological aspects of optimal human behaviour is what we are concerned with here.

Performance psychology can be said to be the systematic employment and application of psychological techniques and principles to human performance in many fields. For example; Art & Music, Business, Sport, Emergency Response Services, Medicine & Surgery and so on. More particularly, it applies to conditions requiring the individual, or indeed groups of individuals, to perform on cue and to a high degree of proficiency and accuracy under stressful conditions and time constraints. Therefore, any advantage that can be gained in the preparation and execution of goal-directed tasks must be taken.

Those who have taken part in sport, no matter the level, undergone the scrutiny of academic assessment, performed on stage on a big night or held the life of another human being in their hands in surgery, will understand the importance of performing to a high level of proficiency under pressure. When the stakes are high, the demand on the human organism increases to heights those of us outside the bubble can not perceive. As such, elite performers must learn and develop ways to cope with the associated stress of these high-pressure conditions. This is where the Psychology of Human Performance comes in.

A Brief History of Performance Psychology

The evolution of performance psychology in Europe can be traced back to the 1800s in Germany, Russia and France. German scientist, Hermann von Helmholtz, while strolling the golf links with Professor Peter Tait of Edinburgh University in 1871, engaged in ‘scientific discussions in the intervals of exercise’, musing on the psychology of golf no doubt (Wade & Swanston, 2001). The first formal experiment in sport psychology is attributed to American psychologist Norman Triplett in 1898. His study of social facilitation at the University of Illinois found that cyclists tended to produce faster lap times when riding with other cyclists compared to when riding alone.

Wilhelm Wundt can also be credited with early contributions to human performance study when he examined reaction times and mental processes in 1879. Philippe Tissié, the French neuropsychiatrist, together with Pierre de Coubertin and Paschal Grousset are credited as founders of the French physical education system. Tissié wrote extensively about psychological changes in cycling athletes in 1894. His colleague, Pierre de Coubertin was the one to put forward the first definition and promotion of sport psychology as a field of science.

From these early days of research, despite obstacles and delays due to two world wars in Europe, performance psychology research accelerated. Looking back to the history of our disciplines, while sport, exercise, and performance psychology evolved and developed as distinct disciplines in Europe, sport and exercise psychology research appear to be stronger than performance psychology.

The research advancements in sport and exercise psychology led to the establishment of the European sport psychology organization (FEPSAC) in the 1960s, as researchers needed an umbrella establishment that would accept the cultural and linguistic borders within the continent. In the US, the mid-1960s marked the birth of modern-day sport psychology, however it wasn't until the late 80s that the US Olympic team employed a sport psychologist in preparation for the games. The late 1960s witnessed a rapid growth of psychology in US physical education and the establishment of the broad themes that today define performance psychology (motivation, perception, attention, memory, performance anxiety, individual differences, motor skills, motor learning, aggression, psychological skills training & interventions, social cognition and team dynamics). 

Performance Psychology refers to the mental components of superior performance, in situations and performance domains where excellence is a central elemement

Hays, 2012 | The Oxford Handbook of Sport & Performance Psychology

The Psychological Components of Performance

Complex human performance can be examined, influenced by, and improved from many psychological perspectives, and subdisciplines of psychology have been examining these individual components for some time. For example, general psychology more broadly describes the complexities of individual emotion, perception, action and cognition. The cognitive aspects include memory, attention, problem-solving, and language processing. And there are indeed many more. From a clinical perspective, we may be interested in these factors where they are beyond normal healthy functioning, and from a social psychology perspective where social dimensions are important. The Performance Psychology Coach seeks to link these separated subfields of psychology in an attempt at explaining and improving human performance.

Successful performance requires both the development and mastery of Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs) and the capability to consistently and reliably deliver (i.e., perform) KSAs at the time of performance.

Aoyagi and Portenga, 2010

Consider a point attempt by a GAA player or a penalty attempt by a No. 10 in Rugby; here the performance psychology coach looks at how the player's visual perception leads to specific actions, and how perhaps negative emotion may influence dysfunctional thoughts and affect the desired outcome. They will examine how the player's own subjective experiences change their perception and judgment and ultimately, their in-the-moment decision making and subsequent results. Preparation is key and understanding how the various psychological components play out in the experience of the player is vital at the highest level of human performance.

The Work of The Performance Psychology Coach

The Performance Psychology Coach examines mental factors influencing the optimal performance of athletes, business people, emergency response personnel, stage performers, medical practitioners and any other profession that requires high-level performance under pressure. They utilise established psychological principles of performance and research to assist professionals, and indeed aspirational novices, to produce consistently superior results in their chosen domain. The Performance Psychology Coach assists their clients to understand the subjective factors influencing performance such as stress, pressure, decision making, resilience, grit, confidence, cognition and perception. Perhaps most importantly, they offer the performer proven strategies to prepare sufficiently and cope under pressure.

Amongst others, the performance psychology coach employs interventions such as inner reflection, meditation practices, Psychological Skills Training (PST), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), and consultation & coaching, to help develop in the performer, those mental states required to produce optimal performance and equip them with cognitive skills required to overcome and triumph in challenging environments.

The psychological structures that lead to successful or unsuccessful performance are similar across domains be it music and the arts, business and entrepreneurship, academia, emergency response services, sport or otherwise. Understandably, however, there are many differences in required skill, physical and cognitive abilities across these domains. But the broad body of research seems to suggest that the underlying psychological structures determining performance outcomes have comparable attributes.

In Conclusion

The pursuit of perfection drives many of us to exceptional performance. However, this pursuit often comes at a significant cost to our mental health. Success is enjoyable but it doesn't last, and the pursuit of higher highs often result in burnout or lasting anxiety or depression. Self-compassion, therefore, is a vital component in the performer’s armoury and it is the performance psychologist's job to assist the performer in building their defences.

In sport and fields of elite performance, physical pain and injury are inevitable. Emotional pain is also a factor. But it isn’t the experience or the environmental conditions that should determine our emotional state. It is how we react to it that is the key. In this there is required a deeper sense of self, one that can withstand the turmoil of the work.

Consider an artist in her attempt to create her painting, or the novelist bringing a story to life in the pages of a book; in these things, there is significant psychological challenge. Consider the 5000-meter runner, or the Olympic boxer hitting the gym or the tack every single day, sometimes several times per day; for these pursuers of excellence, there is a constant traversing the continuum of good and bad, win and lose, success and failure.

Ultimately, the performance psychologist helps the individual build a stable self under the demands of the game. In that relationship, we must remember, that although we take our work seriously, it is all just a game and its the playing of the game that matters most. Perhaps paradoxically, when we disconnect from the need to have results turn out a particular way, when we engage in the work for its inherent enjoyment, that success can occur.