The effects of Personal-Disclosure Mutual-Sharing (PDMS) interventions in sport

Personal-Disclosure Mutual-Sharing (PDMS) is a communicated-based intervention where individuals prepare and share previously unknown information and/or personal stories to members of their team or group (Evans, Slater, Turner, & Barker, 2013). Stemming from counselling settings, PDMS was initially introduced to sport as a team-building approach (Dunn & Holt, 2004) and has since been used to manipulate a range of important psychological variables (e.g., social identities; Evans et al., 2013).

Currently, there are four forms of PDMS that have been documented as being effective in applied sport psychology literature based on particular psychological needs. For example, Barker, Evans, Coffee, Slater, and McCarthy (2014) found that Mastery Oriented PDMS (MO PDMS), where athletes prepare and share information about best sporting performance, significantly increased collective efficacy beliefs among a sample of 15 elite academy cricketers on tour. To this end, the focus of the PhD will be to initially review current PDMS literature before exploring alternate forms of PDMS beyond those that currently exist through a series of applied research studies. It is anticipated that this PhD will contribute to PDMS literature by documenting the effects of alternate forms of PDMS on a set of psychological variables previously unexplored.

It is further anticipated that this PhD will provide sport psychology practitioners with knowledge around the additional uses of PDMS in sport settings.

PhD start date: September 2018

Eligibility: Applicants are expected to have completed a relevant undergraduate (BSc) degree (e.g., BSc in Sport Psychology or BSc in Sport Science). Applicants are also expected to have completed a relevant Masters (MSc/MRes) degree (e.g., MSc in Sport Psychology or MSc in Sport Science). Preferably, applicants would have experience of applying sport psychology. Specific training regarding delivering PDMS interventions will be provided within the PhD.

Supervision team:

Dr Linda Dubrow-Marshall (Lecturer in Psychology)
Dr Andrew Evans (Lecturer in Sport Psychology)
Dr Phil Gray (Lecturer in Exercise Psychology)