The social side of self-talk: Relationships between perceptions of support received from the coach and athletes’ self-talk

ObjectivesThe aim of the present research was to investigate the relationship between perceptions of received support provided by a coach and athletes’ self-talk.DesignCross-sectional.MethodTwo studies were conducted. In the first study an instrument to assess perceptions of received support provided by the coach was developed, based on the conceptualization of Rees and Hardy, 2000 and Rees and Hardy, 2004, and tested in a sample of athletes (n = 888). In the second study the relationship between perceptions of received support provided by the coach and athletes’ self-talk was tested through structural models. Participants (n = 465) completed the social support dimensions derived from study 1 and the Automatic Self-Talk Questionnaire for Sports (Zourbanos, Hatzigeorgiadis, Chroni, Theodorakis, & Papaioannou, 2009).ResultsThe results of the first study supported the factorial structure of the measure, including the dimensions of emotional, informational and esteem support. The results of the second study showed that perceptions of support received from the coach were positively related to athletes’ positive self-talk dimensions and negatively to athletes’ negative self-talk dimensions.ConclusionsOverall, the results showed that athletes’ perceptions of support received from the coach were related to their self-talk, thus stressing the need to further consider the role of social factors in shaping athletes’ self-talk.

► Psychometric support for a 13 item, three-dimensional social support model.
► Relationships between global received social support and athletes’ self-talk.
► Relationships between individual dimensions of support and athletes’ self-talk.