Effects of self-discrepancy on emotional information processing in competitive tennis players

Introduction: This study examined how self-discrepancy levels shape emotional information processing in competitive tennis players. Using a self-referential paradigm and a key-press/spatial-cueing task, we tested whether self-discrepancy biases the representation of valenced self-information and whether this negativity generalizes to attentional operations (spatial orienting/disengagement). Methods: A two-step design was adopted. A pilot phase was used only for participant screening/grouping and stimulus quality control (no inferential testing). In Experiment 1, a between-subjects design assessed athletes with high vs. low self-discrepancy across self-type (ideal/ought/actual) and word valence (positive/negative), indexing processing speed and self-descriptive endorsement. In Experiment 2, a mixed design tested discrepancy level (high/low; between-subjects) and emotion type (positive/negative/neutral) and cue type (valid/invalid; within-subjects) to quantify emotional processing speed and attentional bias (vigilance/disengagement). Results: In Experiment 1, high self-discrepancy athletes responded faster to negative words, whereas low self-discrepancy athletes responded faster to positive words; high self-discrepancy athletes also endorsed more negative self-descriptors. In Experiment 2, high self-discrepancy athletes responded faster to negative stimuli, slower to positive stimuli, and showed no reliable differences for neutral stimuli, consistent with a discrepancy-linked negativity extending from lexical self-reference to attentional processing. Discussion: Findings suggest that elevated self-discrepancy increases the accessibility and endorsement of negative self-referent content and may predispose athletes to negative cognitive schemas, yielding accelerated processing of negative information and stronger attentional bias toward negative stimuli. This work highlights the importance of individual differences in self-cognition for emotional regulation and offers a mechanistic bridge from self-structure to attentional bias in sports psychology.