Psychological Crisis in a Marathon and the Buffering Effects of Self-Verbalizations

In the present study, we investigated the effects of psychological crises on goal striving and the buffering effects of self-verbalizations in the context of a marathon race. Study 1 showed that during a marathon, a psychological crisis—which is characterized by a strong impulse of goal disengagement and thoughts about benefits and costs—occurred at about Kilometer 30 and that this crisis had negative effects on race performance. Study 2 experimentally induced the use of self-verbalizations. The results confirmed the hypothesis that self-verbalizations are an effective strategy to buffer against negative effects of psychological crisis on race performance. Selfverbalizations are discussed as a general self-regulatory tool in goal striving.