METHODOLOGY
Inspired by peer-reviewed science.
Nine bodies of peer-reviewed sports psychology research, complemented by a proprietary Flow XP assessment instrument, underpin how FLOW XP measures mental performance. The bibliography below is provided for transparency and verification — FLOW XP's own platform is an independent implementation informed by this body of work.
Important — intellectual property
FLOW XP develops its own psychometric implementation, inspired by the peer-reviewed body of sports psychology research referenced on this page. The reference frameworks listed remain the intellectual property of their respective academic authors and journals. FLOW XP does not redistribute, reproduce verbatim, or commercially license any of these third-party instruments. Our own scoring algorithms, dimension architecture, AI report generation, and platform interface are FLOW XP's original intellectual property (Flow XP BV, BE 0669.982.661). Trademarks and copyrights of each reference work belong to their respective owners. The Connexion Coach battery is a proprietary Flow XP assessment instrument, consistent with public theoretical frameworks of emotional intelligence (Salovey & Mayer 1990, Gross 1998, Niven et al. 2009).
Reference bibliography
TOPS-2
Test of Performance Strategies (revised)
Hardy, L., Roberts, R., Thomas, P. R., & Maynard, I. W. (2010)
Psychology of Sport & Exercise
View reference on Google Scholar →What this reference work studies
Mental strategies athletes use in training and competition: concentration, imagery, activation, relaxation, automaticity, self-talk, goal setting, emotional control.
ACSI-28
Athletic Coping Skills Inventory
Smith, R. E., Schutz, R. W., Smoll, F. L., & Ptacek, J. T. (1995)
Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology
View reference on Google Scholar →What this reference work studies
Psychological coping skills in sport: coping with adversity, peaking under pressure, goal setting, concentration, freedom from worry, confidence, coachability.
SMS-II
Sport Motivation Scale II
Pelletier, L. G., Rocchi, M. A., Vallerand, R. J., Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2013)
Psychology of Sport & Exercise
View reference on Google Scholar →What this reference work studies
Continuum of self-determined motivation in sport: intrinsic, integrated, identified, introjected, external regulation, amotivation.
TEOSQ
Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire
Duda, J. L., & Nicholls, J. G. (1992)
Journal of Educational Psychology
View reference on Google Scholar →What this reference work studies
Achievement goal orientations in sport: task orientation (mastery, self-referenced improvement) vs ego orientation (normative comparison, outperforming others). Foundational instrument for achievement goal theory in sport contexts.
CART-Q
Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (3C+1)
Jowett, S., & Ntoumanis, N. (2004)
Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports
View reference on Google Scholar →What this reference work studies
Quality of the coach-athlete relationship across four dimensions: Closeness, Commitment, Complementarity, and Co-orientation.
LSS
Leadership Scale for Sports
Chelladurai, P., & Saleh, S. D. (1980)
Journal of Sport Psychology
View reference on Google Scholar →What this reference work studies
Coach leadership style across five behaviours: training and instruction, democratic, autocratic, social support, positive feedback.
EDMCQ-C
Empowering & Disempowering Motivational Climate Questionnaire (Coach)
Appleton, P. R., Ntoumanis, N., Quested, E., Viladrich, C., & Duda, J. L. (2016)
Psychology of Sport & Exercise
View reference on Google Scholar →What this reference work studies
Motivational climate created by the coach: empowering (autonomy support, task-involving, socially supportive) vs disempowering (controlling, ego-involving).
CBS-S
Coach Behavior Scale for Sport
Côté, J., Yardley, J., Hay, J., Sedgwick, W., & Baker, J. (1999)
Avante
View reference on Google Scholar →What this reference work studies
Athletes' perception of their coach's behaviours: physical training & planning, technical skills, mental preparation, goal-setting, competition strategies, personal rapport, negative personal rapport.
PCDEQ-2
Psychological Characteristics of Developing Excellence Questionnaire — version 2
Hill, A., MacNamara, Á., & Collins, D. (2015)
Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology
View reference on Google Scholar →What this reference work studies
Validated questionnaire operationalising the Psychological Characteristics of Developing Excellence (PCDEs) framework: commitment, focus and distraction control, quality practice, evaluation of performance, coping under pressure, social skills, planning, self-belief. Integrates the healthy/toxic perfectionism distinction (Stoeber 2006) as an embedded conceptual layer.
Flow XP proprietary instrument
Connexion Coach
Flow XP proprietary assessment — coach emotional and relational intelligence (Manager Fit)
Connexion Coach is a de novo proprietary instrument developed by Flow XP, consistent with public theoretical frameworks of emotional intelligence: Salovey & Mayer (1990) for the conceptual scaffolding, Gross (1998) for self-regulation (process model), and Niven, Totterdell & Holman (2009) for interpersonal emotion regulation.
Items are authored by Flow XP — no items derived from third-party proprietary instruments. The construct architecture covers four dimensions: empathy and co-orientation, emotional perception (weak signals, non-verbal), self-regulation (anti-contagion stress), and interpersonal regulation (group thermostat).
Scoring algorithms, dimension architecture, AI report generation, and platform interface remain the exclusive intellectual property of Flow XP BV (BE 0669.982.661).
Scope of this page
This page is provided for scientific transparency only. FLOW XP does not claim ownership, license, or distribution rights over any of the reference works listed above. No third-party instrument is reproduced or commercially exploited by FLOW XP. For any rights-related enquiry, contact admin@flowxp.eu.