How do situational factors influence performance? Regulatory focus and handball penalty taking at a World Cup stage

Abstract: Pressure-performance relationship in sport situations was investigated within a self-regulatory focus framework (regulatory focus theory; Higgins, 1997). To that end, the role of regulatory fit in different ecologically valid handball penalty situations taken in the 2021 World Cup was examined. Competition data available from 102 games was collected; from 743 penalties taken in total, 716 penalties were finally included for analysis (those within the original game time of 60 minutes; handball match consists in two parts of 30 minutes each). A series of univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were performed; no significant effects were found on performance (goal or save/miss; in points) for neither situational focus (critical and non-critical moment), reward structure (losses [team taking the penalty is behind] and gains [team taking the penalty is ahead or score is tied]), or when the goalkeeper was substituted or not by the defending team. Furthermore, penalty shot placements were gathered to examine ‘safe’ versus ‘risky’ shooting options taken by players when under different situations (critical vs noncritical); it was found that players in general choose ‘safe’ penalty shot options under both situations. Findings are discussed considering pressure performance and regulatory fit frameworks.