The effect of self-talk on the cognitive and physiological components of anxiety

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of self-talk on psychological and physiological responses of competitive anxiety of elite taekwondo athletes. For this purpose, 33 male elite taekwondo athletes were selected and randomly divided into two groups: control (n = 16) and experiment (n = 14). In the pre-test (first competition), the cognitive components of competitive anxiety (cognitive anxiety, confidence and physical anxiety) and the physiological component of salivary cortisol were measured in both groups. The experimental group performed10 sessions of self-talk exercises and the control group had only physical exercises, and after the intervention, the post-test (second competition) was taken. One-variable covariance analysis was used to analyze the data. The results showed that cognitive and physical anxiety decreased in the experimental group compared to the control group, and self-confidence increased. Also, salivary cortisol levels decreased significantly in the post-test compared to the pre-test in experimental group. Based on the findings of this study, it is suggested to use self-talk to reduce the cognitive and physiological components of competitive anxiety.