The purpose of the present study was to examine and contrast emotional experiences of rugby and wheelchair rugby players by utilizing the Individual Zones of Optimal Functioning (IZOF) model. The IZOF questionnaire was completed by 26 male rugby and 11 wheelchair rugby players. The content of emotions was studied as a) frequency of separate adjectives from the emotion profiles, b) frequency of adjectives clustered in groups of synonyms, and c) displaying frequency of helpful and harmful effect of the adjectives. To compare the contents of emotions between rugby and wheelchair rugby players the Chi-Square test was used. To compare the intensities of emotions on the inter-group level we utilized Mann-Whitney U Test. The data revealed several significant differences (p < 0,05) between the two teams in selected emotion content (in 6 out of 48 groups of synonyms) and in indicated emotion intensities (during the best ever performance in 6 cases and during the worst ever performance in 1 case out of 48 groups). The analysis also demonstrated that wheelchair rugby players perceived harmful negative emotions during their worst ever performance at significantly higher intensity compared to the rugby players. The results support utilizing an individual approach in studies of performance-related emotional experiences and suggest that the IZOF model was applicable to research in emotional experiences of athletes with disabilities.

Charles University Prague Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Department of Pedagogy Psychology and Didactics

Porovnání emočních prožitků hráčů ragby a wheelchair ragby na základě modelu individuálních zón optimálního fungování

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