A paradigmatic case of the current crossroads in Sport Psychology the application and the investigation in motivation.

Abstract

The Sport and Exercise Psychology is a field of application of the  psychology recognized, so much in the academic area (formative offer, specialized journals, lines of investigation, …) as in the professional (labour with sportsmen, clubs and other sport organizations, creation of  the Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology of the General of  Psychologists’ Colleges of Spain, …). In both contexts, emphasizes the  interest for the motivational processes, which has produced an enormous proliferation of works and investigations on these, using as paradigmatic example of the evolution of the set of this field of application of the psychology. This way so, it is the moment to do a critical examination of  the situation, in which the quantitative increase has not been parallel with the qualitative one. We need to increase the rigor and the exigency to all  the levels, clarifying confusions and avoid new mistakes, so much in what it concerns the experts’ formation - and those who must be these-, to the quality of specialized investigation, and intimately linked with it, the  professional exercise. Finally, some suggestions sign to help to advance  in these crossroads.