Dialogical consciousness and descriptive experience sampling: Implications for the study of intrapersonal communication in sport

Abstract

Inner experience and intrapersonal communication research in sport psychology has been largely dominated by a focus on self-talk, which has typically been examined using retrospective self-report measures. Although the existing self-talk literature has addressed aspects of athlete's inner experience, attempts to extend the theoretical scope of intrapersonal communication in sport has been limited by an adherence to linear, causal models of self-talk, as well as by methodological challenges associated with assessing inner experience. The purpose of this paper is to present theoretical and methodological approaches that can be used for further understanding of intrapersonal communication and inner experience in sport. The paper begins with a brief history of sport self-talk theory and research. Next, a discussion of dialogical self (Hermans et al., 1992; Hermans and Hermans-Konopka, 2010) and dialogical consciousness (Larrain and Haye, 2012; Haye and Larrain, 2013) as they relate to sport self-talk theory is presented. Descriptive Experience Sampling (DES), a promising method for exploring inner experience and self-talk in sport is described. We conclude with suggestions related to integrating dialogical theories and DES into the study of intrapersonal communication in sport.