The purpose of the present experiment was to investigate whether the motivational climates (MCs) drawn from achievement goal and self-determination theories would affect perceived competence and the use of claimed self-handicapping. Specifically, this study examined the effects of performance MC, mastery MC and need-supportive MC on these two variables. In the context of high school physical education, 37 participants had the opportunity to claim handicaps before performing an isometric resistance task in a given MC. This procedure was repeated three times at one-week intervals so that all participants were assigned to each of the three MCs. Consistent with our hypotheses, students claimed handicaps less in the need-supportive than in the performance MC. In addition, when data from girls and boys were separated, girls reported significantly greater perceived competence in the need-supportive MC than in the performance and mastery MCs. The theoretical and applied implications of these finding are discussed.

Heat has an impact on several aspects of human cognition but the effects of the tropical climate (i.e., hot and wet) have rarely been explored. The purpose of this study was to determine whether selective attention and affect are negatively impacted by the tropical climate. The study followed a within-participants design: participants responded to an affective scale (PANAS) and performed an attention task (d2 Test) in two experimental climate conditions (tropical vs. neutral) with a one-week interval between sessions. The results indicated that they had lower positive affect and selective attention in the tropical climate than in the neutral climate. However, there was no significant difference in the effect on negative affect between conditions. The impact of tropical climate on affects and selective attention is discussed.

The current experimental study evaluated how a tropical climate (i.e., wet and hot environment) influences positive and negative affects, sensation of fatigue and environmental perceptions (i.e., comfort and thermal sensations). A convenience sampling of students (30 females and 30 males, M_age = 21.94 years, age range: 19–28 years) who lived all the year in the French West Indies performed two conditions in Tropical Climate (TC) and in Neutral Climate (NC), counterbalanced. During each climate condition, they completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and a questionnaire evaluating feeling of fatigue, thermal and comfort sensations. This original study revealed that TC reduces positive affect (PA) scores, whereas no significant statistical difference was revealed for negative affect (NA). In addition, participants revealed lower thermal and comfort sensations and a greater feeling of fatigue in TC than in NC. These results are in line with the suggestion that TC can negatively influence subjective states compared with a temperate climate. Moreover, TC could also have a potential fatigue-enhancing effect and negatively influences comfort sensations. The impact of TC on affective states is discussed.

The aim of the present study was to determine whether the use of claimed and behavioural self‐handicaps and their correlates differed across experimentally manipulated motivational climates. Fifty‐six competitive basketball players participated in the study. A crossover design was used, such that all participants completed the experimental task (i.e. a test of basketball skill) in both mastery and performance climates. Analyses of variance showed that claimed self‐handicaps were used more in the performance than the mastery condition but only for the men. In addition, greater behavioural self‐handicapping occurred in the performance than the mastery climate. Contrary to expectation, neither type of self‐handicap was related to performance on the basketball task in either climate. These findings reinforce the conceptual distinction between claimed and behavioural self‐handicaps and suggest that individual and environmental factors may differentially influence each type of handicap.

Many tennis competitions are held in hot ambient conditions, which can negatively affect endurance, mental and cognitive functioning and/or motor performance. The purpose of this article is to take stock of the physical techniques and psychological strategies that tennis players can use to counteract the negative effect of the heat. In addition, a new direction based on the mindfulness technic is proposed in this article.