Exploring Common Ground: Comparing the Imagery of Dancers and Aesthetic Sport Performers

The imagery of aesthetic sport athletes and dancers was compared, and the relationship between imagery and self-confidence was explored. Materials included the Sport Imagery Questionnaire (SIQ; Hall, Mack, Paivio, Hausenblas, 1998), the Dance Imagery Questionnaire (DIQ; Nordin Cumming, 2006), the Trait Sport Confidence Inventory (TSCI; Vealey, 1986), and open-ended questions. Participants were 144 dancers and 124 aesthetic athletes, mainly female, 18.98 (SD = 3.91) years old, and ranging from recreational to elite levels. Aesthetic athletes engaged in less imagery of roles and movement quality than dancers, and seemingly less imagery overall. Dancers at higher levels imaged more frequently than lower level dancers, but this was not the case for athletes. Performers who imaged more frequently were more confident, and for dancers the DIQ predicted additional variance in self-confidence beyond that offered by the SIQ. Altogether, the DIQ might be suitable for investigating the imagery of aesthetic athletes as well as dancers.