TY - JOUR

T1 - Speaking clearly … 10 years on

T2 - The case for an integrative perspective of self-talk in sport

AU - Latinjak, Alexander T.

AU - Hatzigeorgiadis, Antonis

AU - Comoutos, Nikos

AU - Hardy, James

N1 - © 2019, American Psychological Association. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the final, authoritative version of the article. Please do not copy or cite without authors' permission. The final article will be available, upon publication, via its DOI:10.1037/spy0000160

PY - 2019/11/1

Y1 - 2019/11/1

N2 - Over a decade ago, Hardy (2006) published his literature review that contained a working definition that has shaped subsequent studies about self-talk, contributing to the noticeable expansion of this research area. The rapid development of the self-talk literature in sport since then has bred the need to rethink how self-talk is conceptualized. The purpose of the present article was twofold: (a) to review how conceptualizations of self-talk and the associated research perspectives have changed during the past decade and (b) to introduce a new integrative conceptualization of sport self-talk. We identify two main developments that alter our view of what self-talk is, reinforcing the need for a new conceptualization: The identification of two distinct self-talk entities (organic self-talk and strategic self-talk); and the distinctions between spontaneous and goal-directed self-talk, as these emerged within organic self-talk. Consequently, we propose a new integrative conceptualization of self-talk. We believe that for such a conceptualization to be sufficient so as to guide future research, several attributes of self-talk ought to be recognized: the necessary and sufficient attributes that define self-talk, and important descriptive attributes, including overtness, interpretation, origins, and functions, which facilitate the understanding and the study of the self-talk phenomena.

AB - Over a decade ago, Hardy (2006) published his literature review that contained a working definition that has shaped subsequent studies about self-talk, contributing to the noticeable expansion of this research area. The rapid development of the self-talk literature in sport since then has bred the need to rethink how self-talk is conceptualized. The purpose of the present article was twofold: (a) to review how conceptualizations of self-talk and the associated research perspectives have changed during the past decade and (b) to introduce a new integrative conceptualization of sport self-talk. We identify two main developments that alter our view of what self-talk is, reinforcing the need for a new conceptualization: The identification of two distinct self-talk entities (organic self-talk and strategic self-talk); and the distinctions between spontaneous and goal-directed self-talk, as these emerged within organic self-talk. Consequently, we propose a new integrative conceptualization of self-talk. We believe that for such a conceptualization to be sufficient so as to guide future research, several attributes of self-talk ought to be recognized: the necessary and sufficient attributes that define self-talk, and important descriptive attributes, including overtness, interpretation, origins, and functions, which facilitate the understanding and the study of the self-talk phenomena.

KW - Athletes

KW - Thoughts

KW - Private Speech

KW - Conceptualization

KW - Cognitive processes

U2 - 10.1037/spy0000160

DO - 10.1037/spy0000160

M3 - Article

VL - 8

SP - 353

EP - 367

JO - Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology

JF - Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology

SN - 2157-3905

IS - 4

ER -