Speakers
Description
Objectives
Elite athletes commonly participate in competitions despite experiencing pain or being injured (Mayer & Thiel, 2018) – a behavior described as ‘playing hurt’. Research suggests that this behavior is not specific to elite athletes, but can also be observed in other high achievement contexts such as music (Park et al., 2007) or performing arts (Anderson & Hanrahan, 2008). Overall, the phenomenon of performing hurt is multidimensional and complex with particularly psychosocial factors believed to play a major role.
With this systematic review, we intend to assess and synthesize qualitative and quantitative research with athlete, musician, and performing artist populations on the phenomenon of performing hurt. The central goal of our review is to identify domain-general and domain-specific psychosocial factors that have an impact on performing hurt.
Methods
The systematic review is informed by the PRISMA guideline. The included studies are appraised with the Mixed-Methods Appraisal Tool.
Findings
We expect that approximately twenty-five studies will meet the inclusion criteria. We hypothesize that psychosocial factors that impact performing hurt behavior can be observed at a cultural, situational, and personal level.
Discussion
The specific influence of each psychosocial factor in this regard likely depends on the interconnection between the three levels in a specific situation.
Conclusion
Our findings are of interest to researchers and practitioners since they can help understand high-performers’ risk-taking and individually support those at risk for unhealthy behaviors.
