Date of Award

Fall 2025

Degree Type

Thesis

Department

Psychology

Director of Thesis

Dr. Amy Fraley

Second Reader

Dr. Jim Mensch

Abstract

This literature review aims to further the understanding of the psychological factors that impact the performance of collegiate basketball players. Past reviews have focused on specific performance elements of basketball (e.g. free throws) or how a singular psychological factor affects sports performance; none have focused specifically on the collegiate level of play. The present review systematically collected thirty studies from the databases PsycInfo and SportDiscuss. The following psychological factors were the focus of the literature: player qualities, motivation, feedback, location of play, mood/emotional states, mental fatigue, preshot routine, momentum, sleep, self-talk, self-modeling, leadership, choking, flow, touch, and color. Performance was measured in the included studies using shooting metrics, offensive statistics, defensive statistics, win margins, and winning percentages. The research regarding motivation, location of play, momentum, sleep, self-talk, leadership, and choking produced significant data regarding collegiate basketball performance. Feedback, preshot routine, self-modeling, flow, touch, and color were not found to be correlated with basketball performance. Mixed results were found regarding player qualities, mood states, and mental fatigue. The review outlines current gaps in the literature and provides recommendations for future research.

First Page

1

Last Page

50

Rights

© 2025, Paige Ashlyn Bordenkecher

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