Embrace the challenge: Acknowledging a challenge following negative Self-Talk improves performance. Issue 5 (3rd September 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: DeWolfe, Christopher E. J.; Scott, David; Seaman, Kenneth A.
• Is Part Of: Journal of applied sport psychology. Volume 33:Issue 5(2021)
• Page Start: 527
• Page End: 540
• Publication Date: 2021-09-03
• Subjects: Sports -- Psychological aspects -- Periodicals; Exercise -- Psychological aspects -- Periodicals; 796.019
• DOI: 10.1080/10413200.2020.1795951
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1041-3200

Abstract

Abstract: There are mixed results regarding the performance effects of negative self-talk. An interesting consideration is that negative self-talk may not have to be replaced to improve performance. The purpose of the present study was to determine if negative self-talk can improve performance when interpreted as a challenge. Participants ( N = 93) completed a baseline VO2max test and were randomized into self-talk groups (i.e., motivational, negative, neutral, and challenging) after matching based on their predicted VO2max and sex. During a subsequent session, participants completed a thirty-minute self-talk condition followed by twenty-minutes of "do your best" cycling. The results revealed a significant group by time interaction effect, where the challenging self-talk group significantly outperformed the negative self-talk group during the final five minutes of the task. Overall, these results provide initial support for implementing challenging self-talk and suggest that time within an endurance task moderates the self-talk-performance relationship. Lay Summary: Participants in the study used self-talk that was either motivational, neutral, negative, or negative with a challenging statement during a 20 minute cycling task. The results showed that participants who used negative self-talk, such as "My legs are tired" did much worse in the final five minutes of the task than those who added a challenging statement to their negative self-talk, such as "My legs are tired, but I can push through it". PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Rather than working to replace negative self-talk, practitioners can have athletes acknowledge it and add a challenge statement to enhance endurance performance. Time within an endurance task and level of fatigue are important to consider when implementing self-talk interventions. Self-talk interventions may be most effective when they include a cognitive skill applicable to organic negative ST.