Martin J. Turner

Manchester Metropolitan University | MMU · Department of Psychology

The investigation of rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT) in sport settings is growing, but controlled experimental field studies are sparse. In the limited extant literature, researchers have found that irrational (extreme, rigid, and illogical) self-talk leads to disrupted motor skill performance, compared to rational (non-extreme, flexible,...

It is not fully understood to what extent cognitive mediators are involved in the transaction between contextual factors and athlete mental health. Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) holds that primary irrational beliefs lead to psychological distress through secondary irrational beliefs. Therefore this study examined the mediational effects...

Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) and its relationship with self-determined motivation has received scant research attention despite growing interest in the motivational effects of REBT with athletes. Recent evidence suggests that reductions in irrational beliefs brought about by REBT may facilitate increases in self-determined motivation....

Sport and exercise psychology practitioners tasked with service provision within any environment can decide which framework(s) they draw upon to inform their applied work. However, the similarities and differences between psychotherapeutic approaches are under represented in current literature. Therefore, this paper brings together practitioners fr...

On approach to competitive situations, affective states (emotions and anxiety) occur through the complex interaction of cognitive antecedents. Researchers have intimated that irrational beliefs might play an important role in the relationship between cognitive appraisals and affective states, but has ignored challenge and threat. In the current res...

The practice of sport psychology has been significantly influenced by the cognitive-behavioral approach. In particular, psychological skills training (PST) is an often-researched set of cognitive-behavioral techniques applied to sports. Recent sport psychology literature has explored how cognitive-behavioral psychotherapies (CBTs) can benefit sport...

Research into the psychology of coaching has been somewhat neglected in comparison to research on the psychological development of athletes. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of a brief online Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy (REBT) programme on coach irrational beliefs and well-being. Coaching staff from an elite inte...

Background In the present study, we compared group-based rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) and mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) with a control group. The aim of the study was to explore the effectiveness of the two interventions on specific psychological (competitive anxiety, perfectionism, irrational beliefs), physiological (salivary co...

The practice of sport psychology has been significantly influenced by the cognitive-behavioral approach. In particular, psychological skills training (PST) is an often-researched set of cognitive-behavioral techniques applied to sports. Recent sport psychology literature has explored how cognitive-behavioral psychotherapies (CBTs) can benefit sport...

Consultancy with children is rarely reported in sport psychology literature. In light of this, the current case study seeks to outline an age-appropriate approach to support provision for a 10-year-old soccer athlete at an elite soccer academy. The Trainee Sport and Exercise Psychologist utilised a combined Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT)...

There is an emergent literature highlighting the positive role of social support and social identification in buffering against the deleterious effects of psychological stressors. Yet, we have limited understanding of how exactly these social factors fit within contemporary stress and coping theory. To advance and gain a greater understanding of th...

In this research, we investigated the influence of irrational beliefs (demandingness, awfulizing, low frustration tolerance, depreciation) and perfectionism (adaptive and maladaptive) on competitive anxiety (cognitive and somatic) in Hungarian amateur and professional athletes. Previous studies have shown that irrational beliefs are able to predict...

Far from being a monolithic approach to psychotherapy, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is in fact an umbrella term to describe a family of psychological therapies that share many common features but also have nuanced differences. Of the CBTs, two are often conflated under the ‘CBT’ moniker, namely cognitive therapy (CT) and rational emotive beh...

Many recent studies have addressed the detection of negative affective states such as stress and anxiety from physio-logical signals taken from body-worn sensors. Typically, machine learning classifiers are applied to features derived from sensor signals, and several authors have reported high accuracy results from a range of signals including card...

In this brief article, the editorial team for the special issue “The Application of REBT Theory and Practice to High-Performance Settings” offer an introduction to the topic. Herein, we introduce the area of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) within performance settings and give a brief overview of the papers included in the special issue.

Irrational beliefs are a risk factor for mental ill-health and exercise dependence. In addition to this, researchers have also proposed that body image inflexibility can determine mental health and behavioural outcomes. However, research is yet to explore whether and to what extent irrational beliefs and body image inflexibility align to influence...

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) has a long history of application and scholarly work in support of its efficacy. The logical extension of the scientific application of REBT to the area of performance is one that makes sense but has lagged relative to the science of clinical applications. While the majority of the research has been with mor...

p>Many recent studies have addressed the detection of negative affective states such as stress and anxiety from physiological signals taken from body-worn sensors. Typically, machine learning classifiers are applied to features derived from sensor signals, and several authors have reported high accuracy results from a range of signals including car...

Stress is ubiquitous in sport, as it is in life. Exposure to high levels of stress is associated with an increased risk of experiencing mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and burnout. Prominent stress theory holds that approaching stressful events as a challenge rather than a threat is advantageous and can bestow performance benefi...

The purpose of this study was to develop a Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) based group counselling program for athletes, and then to experimentally test the effects of the program on the competitive anxiety and irrational beliefs of non-western student-athletes. The effects of the REBT based program was examined using a 2 × 2 controlled q...

p>Many recent studies have addressed the detection of negative affective states such as stress and anxiety from physiological signals taken from body-worn sensors. Typically, machine learning classifiers are applied to features derived from sensor signals, and several authors have reported high accuracy results from a range of signals including car...

Although several studies have reported the effects of rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) with athletes, significant methodological limitations have been observed in the extant research. These include a lack of randomized control trials (RCT), a lack of objective performance measurement, and often poor internal and external validity. According...

A narrative systematic literature review was conducted to explore resilient performance in defence and security settings. A search strategy was employed across a total of five databases, searching published articles from 2001 onwards that assessed performance and optimal function in relation to resilience, in defence and security personnel. Followi...

Whilst there is growing research on the benefits of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) for athletic performance and wellbeing, there has been little attention on the effectiveness of REBT for the exercising population. Recent evidence suggests that REBT may be helpful for males who show signs of exercise addiction, but the effects for female...

Evidence suggests that, in the general population, instances of poor mental health have increased over recent years and are set to continue to grow. Athletes may experience a plethora of additional stressors, such as injury, de-selection, and competitive anxiety. Prior research has suggested that irrational beliefs may maladaptively influence an at...

In this study the influence of irrational beliefs and perfectionism on the emergence of competitive anxiety was investigated. While previous studies indicate that higher irrational beliefs predict greater competitive anxiety, in the present study it is hypothesised that this relationship is mediated by perfectionism. A serial atemporal multiple med...

Research concerning rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT) and autonomous and controlled motivation within athletic settings is burgeoning. It is proposed that irrational beliefs (i.e., illogical, rigid, and extreme) together with controlled forms of motivation, can determine psychological well-being and physical health in these contexts. For ex...

Researchers are beginning to explore the antecedents to anxiety symptomology. Such antecedents to anxiety symptomology may be that of irrational beliefs and motivation regulation. It has been intimated that both irrational beliefs and motivation regulation can be risk factors for increased anxiety in athletes. Research is yet to explore the associa...

There has been scarcity of research regarding the unique mental health risk factors that adolescent athletes face. The recently proposed Rational Emotive Self Determination Scale of Adolescents (RESD-A) has been suggested to understand the antecedent and associative factors of adolescent athlete mental health. The principal aim of this study is to...

In this article, we conducted the first meaningful study of irrational beliefs (IBs) in a German sample of athletes. Moreover, we investigated associations between IBs and potential general as well as sport-specific markers of mental health in German athletes. As general markers, we considered psychological distress and wellbeing in addition to IBs...

According to Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT), humans have a strong biological tendency to adopt self-defeating irrational beliefs which are subsequently driven by the socio-cultural environment one lives in Ellis (J Individ Psychol 32:145–168, 1976). Sport of all levels presents a unique environment which may serve to explain sport-relate...

The current article provides a review and auto-ethnographic account of the application of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) in a police setting. After reviewing literature that explores the application of both REBT in policing to date, the focus will then turn to a reflection of the personal experiences of applying the principles of REBT th...

This paper reports the development and initial validation of the Persian language Irrational Performance Beliefs Inventory (iPBI-Persian). The original iPBI was developed to provide a validated measure of the four core irrational beliefs of rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) within performance-based samples, such as athletes. Data retrieved f...

Recently, researchers have proposed four superordinate emotion beliefs that supposedly influence emotion regulation and emotion reactivity. Two of these proposed emotion beliefs are captured in the cognitive mediation beliefs questionnaire (CMBQa), namely stimulus-response (S-R) generation beliefs and cognitive mediation (C-M) change beliefs. The r...

The reported usage of rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT) in high performance sport is becoming more common in research literature. This research indicates that REBT is a useful and effective approach to performance psychology. However, applied professional practice reflections and insights remain sparse. The current paper brings together REB...

Purpose This paper intends to explore the relationship between participants' eye fixations (a measure of attention) and durations (a measure of concentration) on areas of interest within a range of online articles and their levels of information discernment (a sub-process of information literacy characterising how participants make judgements about...

Background: Using Personal-Disclosure Mutual-Sharing (PDMS) with students transitioning to Higher Education (HE) has yet to be researched in education. Aims: In two studies, we aimed to explore the immediate effects of a Coping Oriented Personal-Disclosure Mutual-Sharing (COPDMS) intervention on first-year undergraduate students' relational and...

Anxieties associated with the social evaluative nature of golf are present in the majority of athletes and impact directly on their wellbeing and objective performance. One potential intervention that could reduce social anxiety in golfers is rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). There is limited research into the effectiveness of REBT in reduc...

In the research concerning rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) in sport and exercise, irrational beliefs are proposed as a risk factor for health. Concurrent to this, researchers have also indicated that autonomous and controlled motivation, as proposed in organismic integration theory could, together with irrational beliefs, could determine i...

This technical document describes the purpose and use of The Smarter Thinking Smartphone App. It serves as a user manual for practitioners wishing to use the App with clients.

There is a dearth of applied research to inform psychological provision for match-officials. The application of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT; Ellis, 1957) is becoming established as an effective psychological intervention with elite performers. This paper examined the effects of four one-to-one REBT sessions on irrational beliefs, anxiet...

The art of sport psychology can be best described as converting potential into consistent performance through maintaining the process & monitoring the progress of an individual. The philosophy of "controlling the controllables in the process" is a common concept introduced by various sport psychology practitioners in the performance discipline. Amo...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine to what extent a person’s psychophysiological well-being is affected by misinformation and whether their level of information discernment has any positive or negative effect on the outcome. Design/methodology/approach Participants ( n = 48) were randomly and blindly allocated to one of two groups:...

Sports officials are often under stress and pressure when they are officiating. In this novel study of Australian tennis officials, the aim was to investigate challenge and threat appraisals, self-efficacy, sources of self-efficacy and psychological resilience in a cross-section of 140 Australian tennis officials. There were 95 males and 45 females...

Playing sport is fun. But we can also get nervous about it. Many people competing in sports get nervous and feel pressure because doing their best is important to them. Feeling pressure is not automatically bad. If you see pressure as a positive challenge, it can help you do your best. However, seeing pressure as a negative threat can stop you from...

Objectives: Researchers have examined how leaders’ representation of shared identity content allows them to mobilize group members towards success in competitive tasks. However, research is yet to determine the psychological and physiological implications of shared identity content with a leader when approaching competitive tasks. The present resea...

It has been theorized that a follower can draw upon support from individuals they identify with when approaching competitive situations to improve psychophysiological challenge states, and performance potential. As such, we examine how perceptions of identity leadership influence resource appraisals, cardiovascular reactivity, and performance in a...

There is a scarcity of literature that reports the effects of psychological interventions to help members of the fire service operate amongst a plethora of work-related stressors. Recently, Rational Emotive Behavior Coaching (REBC) has been established as an efficacious approach to foster psychological well-being in performance contexts (e.g., elit...

Purpose: The present study investigated the cognitions and emotions of swimmers, and explored the psychological techniques they use to manage these internal processes prior to and during their best and worst performances. Method: Seven Paralympic and five Olympic male Brazilian swimmers took part in this qualitative study. A semi-structured intervi...

The ability to regulate emotions is important for human function and health. That emotion regulation can be achieved through cognitive change is predicated on the notion of cognitive mediation. However, the extent to which individuals believe that their emotions are cognitively mediated (C–M), or in contrast, that their emotions occur via stimulus-...

The present case study presents the first idiographic application of a one to one Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT; Ellis, 1957) intervention integrated with Motivational Interviewing (MI; Miller & Rollnick, 2013) with a client (elite athlete) on irrational beliefs, self-determined motivation, and sporting performance. Building and maintaini...

The expansion of evidence-based practices in the sports context, shows a promising growth in the use of REBT interventions with athletes. This evolution places us at the moment of gathering the research to identify where evidence is rich or wanting. We carried out a systematic mapping review to (a) classify the type of literature, (b) categorize cu...

Research in the area of body image suggests that muscularity dissatisfaction is a prominent concern among men and women. At its apex, this concern manifests into a convoluted and debilitating body image disorder termed muscle dysmorphia (MD), characterised by a marked preoccupation with ones (subjective) muscularity and leanness inadequacy. Prevent...

Background Accurate psychometrics benefit from assessing given constructs within specifically defined con-texts. The assessment of context-specific irrational beliefs as put forth in Rational Emotive Be-haviour Therapy (REBT), under the three basic psychological needs described in Self Determi-nation Theory (SDT), represents a new path for research...

Psychological stress is ubiquitous in sport. Unsurprisingly then, research that examines the antecedents, correlates, consequences, and interventions pertaining to psychological stress in sport is sizable and broad. With this Research Topic we aimed to capture the breadth and depth of work taking place around the theme of adaptation to psychologica...

Police employees in the U.K. face increased work demands, against a backdrop of increasing crime rates and continued underfunding, due to the ongoing impact of austerity. Stress and mental illness in policing populations is a major concern for the police themselves, and for the communities they serve. The use of cognitive-behavioural one-to-one coa...

Background: There is growing evidence identifying the positive effects of sport and exercise leaders engaging in identity leadership. Yet we have limited knowledge of how identity leadership is associated with athletes’ resource appraisals (e.g., self-efficacy) and performance, the underpinning mechanisms that explain such relationships, and change...

In the current paper, we investigated the extent to which challenge and threat evaluations predicted the trials performance of youth netball players. This paper compared two theoretical frameworks, the Theory of Challenge and Threat States in Athletes (TCTSA) and the BioPsychoSocial Model (BPSM) of Challenge and Threat, in their prediction of trial...

It has been suggested in recent research that rational beliefs as conceptualized within rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT) can be operationalized as strategic self-talk, but this has yet to be meaningfully investigated. The current study examines the effects of five one-to-one REBT sessions with three amateur American Football athletes to fos...

In the current project, we examined how perceived group memberships (number, and characteristics, of), social and relational identification, and social identity leadership are associated with resilience in Royal Air Force (RAF) personnel. Based on social identity theorizing, we hypothesized positive associations between the number of groups, percep...

The case reports the intervention approach adopted while working with a youth tennis player. The athlete held irrational beliefs and was struggling to maintain emotional control. The neophyte sport psychology practitioner adopted a cognitive-behavioral approach to practice. The intervention focused on: (1) using Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (R...

This is a preprint of a chapter accepted for publication by Facet Publishing. This extract has been taken from the author's original manuscript and has not been edited. The definitive version of this piece may be found in Informed Societies-Why information literacy matters for citizenship, participation and democracy, edited by Stéphane Goldstein,...

Researchers who examine existing models of choking under pressure are beginning to explore the antecedents that predispose individuals to increased anxiety. Irrational beliefs (IBs) may be one such antecedent to “choking”, given that irrational beliefs are closely associated with anxiety intensity. This study aimed to investigate whether IBs influe...

The Theory of Challenge and Threat States in Athletes (TCTSA) provides a psychophysiological framework for how athletes anticipate motivated performance situations. The purpose of this review is to discuss how research has addressed the 15 predictions made by the TCTSA, to evaluate the mechanisms underpinning the TCTSA in light of the research that...

Objectives: The present study explored how challenge and threat responses to stress relate to performance, anxiety, confidence, team identity and team characteristics (time spent in training and postgraduate experience) in a medical simulation-based team competition. Methods: The study was conducted during a national simulation-based training ev...

This document introduces readers to the irrational Performance Beliefs Inventory (iPBI), provides the 28-item and 20-item (sport) versions, and details how to use the measures.

This document contains scoring information for the iPBI 28-item and iPBI 20-item (sport) scales.

Following the CHIP tool (i.e., Context, How, Issues and Population), and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis method (PRISMA) we conducted a systematic review on interventions with athletes using Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT; Ellis, 1957). A literature search was undertaken on the following databases: We...

We were pleased that our paper “Applying the REBT cognitive disputation technique to the binary theory of emotional distress” (Turner, Jones, & Wood, 2018) sparked interest and debate within the REBT community. Our original paper was conceived to draw out the opinions of those who read it, and when we approached the three commentators, Philip Hylan...