Abstract

HERNANDEZ, José Augusto Evangelho. João Carvalhaes, a psychologist world champion football. Estud. pesqui. psicol. [online]. 2011, vol.11, n.3, pp.1027-1049. ISSN 1808-4281.

Considering that information about João Carvalhaes and his pioneering work on Brazilian Sports Psychology is scarce and superficial, this paper aimed at contributing to overcome this gap. At first, this study identified the origin of the theoretical and technical knowledge utilized by this pioneer. A description outlined the experiences of the psychologist with soccer referees as well as with athletes of São Paulo Futebol Clube and of the Brazilian Soccer Team, the 1958 World Cup Champion. Both the tests applied by the psychologist upon the psychological assessment of the athletes and some of his ideas regarding sports psychology are mentioned. Besides, comments are presented on his scientific literature (articles and book) and on his participation in the II International Sports Psychology Congress in Washington (USA) in 1968. The criticism of Carvalhaes´ work points out some virtues and limitations besides launching a few questions with the purpose of provoking future investigations in the field of knowledge.

Keywords : Sport Psychology; History of Psychology; Psychological assessment.