The Effects of Verbal Encouragement and Compliments on Physical Performance and Psychophysiological Responses During the Repeated Change of Direction Sprint Test

Hajer Sahli; Monoem Haddad; Nidhal Jebabli; Faten Sahli; Ibrahim Ouergui; Nejmeddine Ouerghi; Nicola Luigi Bragazzi; Makrem Zghibi

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.698673

The Effects of Verbal Encouragement and Compliments on Physical Performance and Psychophysiological Responses During the Repeated Change of Direction Sprint Test

Front Psychol. 2022 Feb 18:12:698673. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.698673. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Hajer Sahli¹, Monoem Haddad², Nidhal Jebabli¹, Faten Sahli³, Ibrahim Ouergui¹, Nejmeddine Ouerghi¹, Nicola Luigi Bragazzi⁴, Makrem Zghibi¹

Affiliations

¹ High Institute of Sports and Physical Education of Kef, University of Jendouba, El Kef, Tunisia.
² Physical Education Department, College of Education, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.
³ Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Ksar Said, University of Manouba, Manouba, Tunisia.
⁴ Laboratory for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (LIAM), Department of Mathematics and Statistics, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Abstract

The general and sports psychology research is limited regarding the difference between the effects of verbal encouragement (VE) or compliment methods during high-intensity functional exercise testing. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of VE and compliments on the performance of the repeated change-of-direction (RCOD) sprint test. A total of 36 male students in secondary school participated voluntarily in the study. They were divided equally into three homogeneous groups [VE group, compliment group (CG), and control group) and performed a standardized one repetition RCOD. The RCOD (6 × 20 m with 25-s active recovery) test consisted of a 100°change in the direction at every 4 m. Outcomes included performance indices (fast time, average time, and total time), rating of perceived exertion (RPE), and feeling scale scores. VE and the compliment increased the performance indices and RPE compared with the control group. In conclusion, VE during the exercise testing would be more beneficial for optimal performance and RPE compared with the compliment and control groups. However, the moods, during RCOD, reproduce more positively during compliment conditions than the VE and control groups.

Keywords: mood; physical performance; rating of perceived exertion; repeated sprint; verbal encouragement types.