Mental control in athletic performance: Systematic review on wegner's theory of ironic processes

Wegner (1994) predicts that performance when anxious will break down precisely where it is least desired. This manner has been explained by the Ironic Processes of Mental Control Theory by social psychologist Daniel Wegner however it applies to cognitive tasks in range of areas such as psychology, medicine, and sport. The aim of this systematic review was to provide a comprehensive understanding of ironic processes theory via sport related motor performance studies. In this review, studies published between 1998 and 2021 were reviewed via Web of Knowledge, PsycINFO, MEDLINE/PubMed, and Science Direct databases. The search terms were "ironic process'', "ironic error'', "motor performance", "ironic processes of mental control'' and "ironic process in sport'' respectively. Overall, 20 articles were selected based on the series of exclusion and inclusion criteria then classified into the six sub-groups based on their methodology and design. Accordingly, results showed that selected articles were classified into 6 groups as follows; a)verification of ironic effects in motor performance, b)ironic effects in motor performance under pressure, c)investigation the mechanism of ironic effects in motor performance with eye movement, d)comparing the ironic processes theory with different theories in motor performance, e)differentiating the ironic error from the general performance error, f)investigation the mechanism of ironic effects in motor performance through technological measures. Results revealed that the most recent sport related motor performance studies conducted in ironic processes were focused on testing the theory under pressure that enables a deeper understanding performance and pressure relationship. Finally, we discussed the inferences of ironic errors within the current framework in the sport related motor performance domain. Thus understanding the mechanism of the ironic processes of mental control theory may be a promising theoretical framework which could provide practical interventions for better understanding of pressure-performance relationship in sport.