Cultural mission

It is concerned with the study of the motivational, cognitive, and emotional processes that characterize and contribute to a scientific explanation of individual differences in sport experience and performance, as well as in the choices and effectiveness of healthy lifestyles in different age groups. These interests are pursued according to established theoretical models in personality psychology, social psychology, sport psychology, and health psychology, with a focus on cultural and environmental differences.

Laboratory activities also focus on processes inherent in the dynamics of social change, from both micro-systemic (individual – action – structure) and macro-systemic (structure – individual – action) perspectives, with specific attention to issues related to sport as a “total social fact” and its complexities – e.g., the mind-body relationship, the role of sport in cultures, sport and deviance, social phenomena related to health and prevention in the field of sport – and all related socio-historical, socio-cultural and social identity processes. Understanding the aforementioned processes also contemplates prospects for revisiting the study of the classics of sociology.

Main lines of research

The scientific focus is primarily on the investigation of personality characteristics that, both from a structural point of view and in terms of psychological organization and functioning, may regulate and contribute to the attitudes, beliefs, and decision-making processes that guide behavior in exercise and sport in its various forms. Consistent with these scientific interests, the laboratory relies primarily on longitudinal research models, with use of both explicit (e.g., interviews, questionnaires) and implicit (e.g., implicit association modeling) instruments. Among the methodologies, attention is also paid to the review of sources (archives, databases), standard (quantitative: questionnaires, structured interviews) and non-standard (qualitative: participant observation, ethnography, free interviewing, life histories) methodologies for social research.

Publications