Accelerating versus decelerating toward victory in sports: The impact on psychological momentum

However, progress in sports is rarely linear, leading to fluctuations in the perceived velocity of progress. In two studies, we examined how acceleration and deceleration in progress toward victory affect PM in cycling races.

In Study 1, participants viewed unfolding curves representing the time gap between two cyclists in a race and judged the outcome expectation, a classical PM dimension. In Study 2, participants experienced the race from a first-person perspective in virtual reality and rated several PM dimensions such as outcome expectation, perceived momentum, and confidence. In both studies, the races simulated either catching up to an opponent (moving toward victory) or losing the lead (moving away from victory), with each occurring at an accelerating, linear, or decelerating rate within the same time frame.