Abstrakt
In the current chapter we review contemporary affect research on the psychology of wheelchair sport and exercise engagement. More specifically we target three broad areas of research based on a heuristic model of affect.
Our framework specifies that the positive emotional benefits of sport for wheelchair athletes and exercisers can be viewed in three ways. First reflecting a hedonic perspective, participating in wheelchair sport can provide momentary experiences of positive affect such as joy, pleasure, satisfaction, and pride.
A second type of positive experience is longer lasting such as life satisfaction, or in physical activity the experience of peak moments and in sport, flow experiences. In this second level, the experience of positive affect extends beyond momentary pleasure.
Athletes in flow, for example, report feelings of the merging of self with action and losing a sense of self-consciousness across substantial time periods (e.g., a 2 hour run). Physically active individuals with disabilities often have peak experiences (e.g., feeling connected with the environment) when the activity occurs in green (e.g., hiking) or blue (e.g., swimming) natural spaces.
Finally the third level reflects athletes who engage in sport for reasons that go beyond the firs two levels such as using sport to help others, promoting disability, contributing to broader societal goals (e.g., fighting discrimination) or experiencing post-traumatic growth (PTG) after acquiring a SCI injury. Momentary visceral feelings of pleasure are consistent with a hedonic approach whereas finding deeper meaning in sport is consistent with an eudaimonic perspective.
In the current chapter research across all three levels is reviewed and future research across all three levels is reviewed and future research directions are offered.