“Psychological Momentum”: A Phenomenon and an Empirical (Unobtrusive) Validation of its Influence in a Competitive Sport Tournament

This field study reports the first attempt to define theoretically a phenomenon called “psychological momentum” and empirically to demonstrate its influence. Psychological momentum was defined as an added or gained psychological power which changes interpersonal perceptions and influences an individual's mental and physical performance. Based upon this theoretical premise, it was hypothesized that, when two persons compete against each other, the competitor who has psychological momentum is more likely to win. On the other hand, if neither competitor has psychological momentum the probability of winning is equal for both. Archival data used in testing this hypothesis were obtained from a competitive sports tournament. The results strongly supported the hypothesis. It was also found that the over-all positive effect of psychological momentum was greater for male than female competitors. This effect, however, seemed to be mediated by the amount of competitors' experience. That is, the influence decreased as men's competitive experience increased and as women's experience decreased. The results were briefly discussed and suggestions for further research were offered.