The Relationship Between Self-talk and the Experience of Flow in Endurance Athletes

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Middle Tennessee State University

Abstract

Sport and exercise researchers have examined numerous factors that influence athletic performance. Amongst those factors are self-talk and flow, which are typically studied independently of each other. The current study examined and compared different types of self-talk as predictors of experiencing flow in endurance athletes. Based on prior research in both self-talk (e.g., Tod, Hardy, & Oliver, 2011) and flow (e.g., Weinberg, Miller, & Horn, 2012), it was hypothesized that motivational self-talk would be a better predictor for experiencing flow compared to instructional self-talk. Additionally, a negative correlation between negative self-talk and flow experiences was expected compared to positive self-talk. Forty-five NCAA runners from two Pennsylvania university teams served as participants, each competing in mid- to long-distance races. At the end of each race, self-talk and flow measures were completed. Results yielded strong support for both hypotheses: a significant, positive relationship between motivational self-talk and flow experiences and a significant, negative relationship between negative self-talk and flow experiences. These findings add to current literature in the realm of sport and exercise psychology. Flow is a positive experience and influential to athletic performance; thus, it is important to understand the type of self-talk that might inhibit or facilitate flow experiences.

Description

Citation

Collections

Endorsement

Review

Supplemented By

Referenced By