Résumé
Athletes often avoid savoring the milestones they reach as they pursue their ultimate goals in sport. Why might this be? One explanation is that athletes believe that reminiscing too much about milestone accomplishments will negatively affect their future performance, a viewpoint we refer to as the reminiscing-is-debilitating belief. We conducted three studies with basketball fans and current/former players (total N = 904) to test for the presence of this belief and the underlying reasons for it. In each study, participants read scenarios about an athlete who had reached an important milestone in their competitive season (winning a divisional championship) and was continuing to pursue an ultimate goal (winning a national championship). Some participants were randomly assigned to learn that the athlete had reminisced about the milestone accomplishment, whereas others did not (between-subjects design). Results showed that participants who learned that the athlete had been reminiscing about the milestone expected the athlete to perform worse in the subsequent competition compared to participants who did not learn about the athlete’s reminiscing behaviour. Mediation analyses showed that this experimental effect was due to the expectation that reminiscing reduces preparedness for future competitions and lowers goal commitment. These findings help explain why many athletes avoid maximizing their positive feelings after reaching important milestones in their competitive seasons.
