The relationship between affect and imagery use in a non-competitive setting

This study investigated the relationship between positive affect (PA), negative affect (NA), and subsequent imagery use outside of a sports competitive setting. Participants from a United Kingdom university included 117 individuals (71 male, 46 female), with a mean age of 19.11 (SD = 1.74), from a number of sports (e.g., rugby, football, netball, athletics, cricket), completed the Sport Imagery Questionnaire (SIQ; Hall et al., 1998) and Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; Watson et al., 1988). Repeated measures ANOVA demonstrated significant differences in participants' imagery use, Wilks' Λ F (4, 113) = 21.715, p = <0.01, η2 = .44, with pairwise comparisons using a Bonferroni adjustment of p = 0.01 recording significant differences in SIQ subscale ratings. To analyse the extent PA and NA predict functions of imagery use five hierarchical regressions were performed. The results demonstrate PA more so than NA influences the SIQ's motivational imagery functions. Neither PA nor NA acted as predictors for the SIQ's cognitive subscales. To account for the specificity of this relationship the authors propose a model to guide future research.