Call for Abstracts

The abstract submission portal will be open through Friday, January 19 (Eastern Standard Time).

We are accepting research presentations, research proposals and workshops. Students interested in presenting must submit an abstract in accordance with the specified guidelines. Students can present only once, but can be listed as a co-author in additional abstracts. Papers may have been presented elsewhere or submitted for upcoming conferences. Submit an abstract after following the guidelines carefully. Please adhere to the step-by-step instructions below:

Types of Presentations

Research presentations involve completed research on sport and exercise psychology related topics. Presentations should include a rationale for the study, appropriate background information, an overview of the methods and current results, and implications from the research. Ongoing investigations may be presented on.

Research proposals involve developing research ideas. Presenters should provide the audience with a rationale for the study, questions and/or hypotheses to be investigated, and proposed methodology. Preliminary or pilot data may be presented.

Workshops provide opportunities for individuals to share professional practice strategies through demonstrations and hands-on experiences for participants. Topics may be in the areas of clinical practice, teaching, research, or other related areas regarding sport and exercise psychology. Workshops should plan for audience interaction and involvement. Workshop abstracts are expected to include: a statement of specific learning objectives, teaching methods, specific techniques, and a description of materials that will be shared with workshop participants.

Submission Procedures

Title and Authors

Only the first letter, first letter after a colon or sentence-ending punctuation, and acronyms/names should be capitalized. Please be careful to write the title in sentence case. The title should be placed on the top line of the document in bold followed by a double space and the authors’ first and last name, and affiliation.

Body

The abstract body should NOT include section headings (i.e., Introduction, Methods, etc.), the title, or author information.

Length

All abstracts (regardless of whether you are submitting for a verbal or poster presentation, or the individual abstracts that comprise a workshop) have a maximum length of 300 words (this word count does not include the title or author information). Citations are optional. Please adhere to current APA formatting.

Example abstract

Associations among dimensions of friendship quality and sport commitment

Olufemi A. Oluyedun, Hope College; Alan L. Smith, Michigan State University

Previous research shows positive friendship quality dimensions to be associated with greater commitment to sport. However, no study has examined friendship quality with the updated sport commitment model, which conceives commitment to exist in enthusiastic (‘want to’) and constrained (‘have to’) forms. The primary purpose of this study was to examine sport friendship quality dimensions as predictors of enthusiastic and constrained commitment. A secondary purpose was to explore if peer acceptance and impression motivation (IM) predicted additional variance in sport commitment above and beyond friendship quality. University athletes (N = 198; M_age = 20.0 years; 62% female) provided demographic information and completed established assessments of friendship quality, peer acceptance, impression motivation, and sport commitment constructs. Multivariate multiple regression analysis showed greater loyalty and intimacy, lesser conflict resolution, and greater conflict to predict more constrained commitment. Peer acceptance and impression motivation further contributed to the multivariate model, yielding a canonical function dominated by enthusiastic commitment and another by constrained commitment. Greater self-esteem enhancement and supportiveness, loyalty and intimacy, things in common, companionship and pleasant play, self-development IM, social identity development IM, and avoidance of negative consequences IM predicted greater enthusiastic commitment. Lesser things in common, conflict resolution, and peer acceptance, along with greater conflict and avoidance of damaging impressions IM predicted greater constrained commitment. Friendship quality contributed to sport commitment more meaningfully when considered alongside peer acceptance and impression motivation. This suggests that simultaneous examination of multiple peer constructs will best advance knowledge on how friends contribute to sport commitment, as friends are part of a broader social tapestry of peer relationships in sport.