Trash talk in a competitive setting: Impact on self‐efficacy and affect

The effects of trash talk and competition outcome on self‐efficacy and affect were examined in 40 Madden? NFL 08 football video game players randomly assigned to two conditions: silence talk, where they played the first game in complete silence; and the second trash talking. Measures of self‐efficacy, positive affect (PA), and negative affect (NA) were administered. Results revealed that players enforced to be silent in the first game instantaneously exhibited lower self‐efficacy, lower PA, and higher NA than players permitted to talk in Game 1. However, players subsequently instructed to remain silent in the second game showed markedly decreased self‐efficacy compared to players permitted to talk in Game 2. Results are interpreted in light of the social‐cognitive‐motivational theory.