A self-determination approach to understanding of athletes' automatic self-talk

Abstract

Grounded on self-determination theory, this study aimed to explore the relationships between basic needs satisfaction, motivational regulations, and athletes' automatic self-talk, and examine the potential mediating role of autonomous and controlled motivation in the relationships between basic needs satisfaction and athletes' automatic self-talk. A crosssectional design was employed. Athletes (N = 381; mean age 16.54) from a variety of individual (n = 132) and team sports (n = 249) completed a multisection questionnaire tapping the targeted variables. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized relationships through a direct, a fully mediated, and a partially mediated model. The analyses provided best support for the partially mediated model which showed that (a) the relationships between the need for competence and athletes' positive and negative self-talk were partially mediated by autonomous motivation; (b) the relationships between the need for relatedness and athletes' positive and negative self-talk were fully mediated by autonomous motivation; (c) the relationship between the need for autonomy and positive self-talk was partially mediated by autonomous motivation, whereas the relationship between the need for autonomy and negative self-talk was fully mediated by autonomous and controlled motivation. Overall, our self-determination theory-derived hypotheses were largely supported. These findings stress the importance of basic need satisfaction and motivational regulations, as factors that influence athletes' automatic self talk and suggest that sport environments which support athletes' basic psychological needs are likely to foster more autonomous motivation toward sport and maximize athletes' positive self-talk, while minimizing negative self-talk. © 2017 American Psychological Association.