Experimental induction of state rumination: A study evaluating the efficacy of goal-cueing task in a sample of athletes

Abstract Athletes’ behavior, thoughts, and feelings are influenced by whether athletes achieve their personal goals or not. The present experiment aimed to evaluate the application of a paradigm that uses unresolved goals to elicit state rumination in athletes. For this purpose, 101 athletes (f = 53, m= 48, Mage = 22.40, SDage = 2.80) participated in an experiment and were divided into three different conditions – two experimental and one control condition. Using a 3 × 3 mixed ANOVA, we examined (1) whether we could significantly elicit rumination in athletes with a goal-related procedure (2) whether the context in which goals were formulated (general, sport-specific) mattered, and (3) whether the application of the procedure had an impact on performance as well as on cognitive processes in a subsequent go/no-go task. In addition, we assessed also athletes’ mood as well as their affect to account for emotional processes in addition to cognitive ones. Results showed that regardless of context, cueing unresolved goals resulted in a significant increase in state rumination after the paradigm compared to the control condition and subsequent recovery during the go/no-go task. In addition, only temporal changes in athletes’ mood and affect were evident; group differences were largely absent. Approaches for future research and further application in the sports context are discussed.