The Psychosocial environment

Psychosocial factors

Performing well at any task requires that you be physically fit both in the mind and in skills (Steven 6). Under this section, we will be exploring how factors that are psychological in nature affects the sport performer. This will enable us to learn on some of the effects of psychological factors on the fitness facilities under different situations. As observed by (John 10) those training in the fitness facilities such as athletes and all the sports person in general must know the psychological factors in the fitness centres and the function they play and their contribution towards the minimisation of safety at the fitness facilities. As stated by (David and Lawrence 28), these psychological factors into motivation, anxiety and personality.

Motivation

As defined by (David and Lawrence 44) motivation is the combination of individual drive to attain his or her aims and the external factors that affect it. To this end, motivation can be of two distinct kinds; extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic motivation is the motivation of a person to work hard so as to be able to receive some rewards in form of rewards or fame from his fellows. On the other hand intrinsic motivation is a form of motivation that accrue from within an individual. (Steven 6) classifiers it as individual urge to be the best. Such desires can cause adverse effects on the safety of fitness facility in that, with this desire, individuals will be tempted to test almost all the fitness facilities without following appropriate procedures. For instance, they may be tempted to lift heavy weight thinking that, by lifting heavy weight he becomes the best. As a result, he may get an injury either in the arms or any part of his body. To minimise such injuries as a result of desires to be the best, the owners of the fitness facilities need to employ an experienced instructor to guide people on the step-by-step procedures to be followed while lifting the weight. Moreover, the owners of these fitness facilities also need to put in place some of the safety warnings to warn the people on the possible injuries caused by lifting heavy weights.

Anxiety

As defined by (David and Lawrence 10) defines anxiety as a negative feeling of emotion that is likely to be experienced by those in the fitness facility centers. Practically, it often takes place when the arousal level of an individual are too high and those involved begin to have a feeling of pressure or worry of failure in any situation. Generally, anxiety is divided into two distinct forms; state anxiety and trait anxiety. To distinguish the two, (John 8) argue that the former anxiety takes place in situations where the performer is placed in continuous while changing situations. Examples of such situations can be when a sailor waiting for the beginning of the starting sequence. Under such situations, the sailor is likely to experience either cognitive or somatic anxiety. Nevertheless, the level of the anxiety under such condition reduces with the hearing of the first gun by the sailor as he prepares to start the competition. To differentiate between somatic and cognitive anxiety, (Steven 5) view somatic anxiety to include the reaction of the body to the situation with its symptoms including high rate of breathing as well as increased rate of breathing. Cognitive anxiety on the other hand is the general nervousness of the athlete or the sailor about the situation they are in and this reduces their level of concentration.

On the other hand, trait anxiety refers to certain features which performers of sport or athletes possess and which forces their reactions to go in certain directions. Example of this is when ED Simpson talk of pressure which may have contributed to their loss of the race on the line in the 2012 Olympics. To avoid anxiety, adequate training need to be carried out so as to increase the level of confidence of individuals and reduce the level of anxiety. This will also reduce the injuries that maybe inflicted on individuals resulting from falling and fainting as a result of these forms of anxiety.

Personality

A person’s personality can have direct impact on his or her safety. While others are considered extroverts. According to (John 2) extroverts are those who tend to be so excitable and loud while introverts are those who tend to portray thoughtful and quiet characteristics. However, there is a possibility of one being in between these kinds of personality type. Since introverts tends to give preferences to sports like golf, archery and snooker which require low levels of arousal, motivation of the self, performance of individual and precision, they tend to be less affected by safety issues such as injuries and illness. On the other hand, since the extroverts tend to give preferences to fitness activities that are either fast paced, team sports, exciting sports and sports that require simple but large motor skills like boxing and rugby, they are more likely to be affected by safety issues such as injuries. Moreover, the low concentration required while performing these activities also makes those involved too prone to safety issues such as injuries. As defined by (Steven 5) concentration is the quality of the mind to focus on a specific activity, lack of which causes those involved to be too susceptible to safety issues such as injuries as in the case of rugby, To reduce such risks, a proper communication and training is required of those involved so as to minimize the level of the risks accruing from these safety issues.