14 DAY TRIAL // Psychologists oftentimes encourage athletes and team sports players to talk to and encourage themselves, in order to boost their performances. In a new study, scientists demonstrate that this type of pep talk is best directed towards the team as a whole, rather than any individual member.
Doing so helps boost both performances and overall confidence, while bringing the team closer together and promoting cooperation between its members. This research was led by experts at the Michigan State University (MSU), and is published in the Journal of Sports Sciences.
“The study revealed that group-oriented self-talk enhanced a team’s confidence. The findings provide fundamental information about how to effectively build positive team outcomes using self-talk focused not on ‘I’ but ‘we’,” explains MSU PhD student Veronica Son, quoted by PsychCentral.