The Relationship Between Self-Talk, Learned Resourcefulness, and Academic Stress

Abstract

Participants were undergraduate students at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU). Students completed three self-report measures and demographic questions with supplemental academic stress questions twice (non-exam and midterm exam periods) during the semester. The self-report measures included the Self-Talk Scale, Perceived Stress Scale-10, and the Self-Control Scale (to measure learned resourcefulness). Learned resourcefulness (LR) includes coping skills that give some people a better capacity for self-regulation. Results showed that students reported higher usage of self-talk during the midterm exam period than before that period and that higher LR students indicated less stress during the midterm exam period than lower LR students. However, there was no difference in reported perceived stress by students between the non-exam period and the midterm exam period and no significant relationship between any type of self-talk and perceived stress. Implications for future research include investigating the LR/self-talk relationship more directly and including a stress measure that examines specific situational stress.