Chapter 5: Arousal, Stress, and Anxiety

what is arousal?

a blend of physiological and psychological activation, varying in intensity along a continuum

what is anxiety?

a negative emotional state with feelings of worry, nervousness, and apprehension associated with activation or arousal of the body

what is state anxiety?

an emotional state characterized by subjective, consciously perceived feelings of apprehension and tension, accompanied by or associated with activation or arousal of the autonomic nervous system

a right now feeling of nervousness and apprehension that can change from moment to moment

what are the two types of state anxiety?

cognitive state anxiety and somatic state anxiety

what is cognitive state anxiety?

the degree to which one worries or has negative thoughts

what is somatic state anxiety?

concerns the moment-to-moment changes in perceived physiological activation

what is perceived control state anxiety?

the degree to which one believes on has the resources and ability to meet challenges

what is trait anxiety?

a personality disposition that is stable over time. it is an acquired disposition that predisposes a person to perceive a wide range of objectively nondangerous circumstances as threatening and to respond to these with disproportionate state anxiety levels

high versus low trait anxious people usually have more state anxiety in highly evaluative situations

how can arousal and anxiety be measured?

via physiological signs (heart rate, respiration, skin conductance, biochemistry)

global and multidimensional self-report scales (CSAI-2, SCAT, SAS-2)

what is stress?

a substantial imbalance between physical and psychological demands placed on an individual and his or her response capability under conditions in which failure to meet demands has important consequences

what is the implication of the stress process?

there are implications of the stress process for practice and if there is intervention at any of the stages

what is stage 1 of the stress process?

the environmental demand (physical and psychological)

what am I presented with?

what is stage 2 of the stress process?

the individual’s perception of the environmental demand (the amount of physical “threat” perceived)

is this a challenge or an insurmountable obstacle?

what is stage 3 of the stress process?

the stress response (physical and psychological)

arousal, state anxiety (cognitive and somatic), muscle tension, attention changes

what is stage 4 of the stress process?

the behavioral consequences (performance or outcome)

what are some situational sources of stress and anxiety?

the event importance, and uncertainty

what are some personal sources of stress and anxiety?

trait anxiety, self-esteem, social physique anxiety

what is drive theory?

it predicts that on well-learned skills, an individual’s arousal or state of anxiety increases; so does performance

this is the basis for social facilitation theory (the presence of others enhances performance on simple or well-learned skills and inhibits performance on complex or unlearned skills)

what is the home-field advantage?

during the regular season, a clear advantage exists for both professional and amateur sports teams when they play on their home field

it occurs for both team and individual sports and for male and female athletes

however, during play-offs, there is a proposed home-field disadvantage, but the evidence supporting it is mixed 

what is the reasoning behind the proposed home field disadvantage during play-offs?

research supports the idea of championship choking as a result of performer self-consciousness

athletes bound for play-offs should have well-developed strategies for coping with anxiety in order to prevent negative attentional effects that interfere with performance

what is the inverted U hypothesis?

the relationship between performance and physiological arousal is an inverted U shape, with low arousal resulting in low performance, medium arousal (“just right”) resulting in high performance, and high arousal resulting in low performance

what are the individualized zones of functioning (IZOF)?

each athlete has a level of arousal that will result in their best performance

example: athlete A has their best performance with low arousal

athlete B has their best performance with medium arousal

athlete C has their best performance with high arousal

what is the multidimensional anxiety theory?

cognitive anxiety is negatively related to performance

somatic anxiety is related to performance in an inverted U-pattern (little support for its predictions)

what is catastrophe theory?

it predicts that when athletes are too highly aroused, they will experience a “catastrophe” crash in their performance level

what is reversal theory?

it states that how arousal affects performance depends on an individual’s interpretation of his or her arousal level

can be interpreted as pleasant (excitement) or unpleasant (anxiety)

arousal interpreted as pleasant facilitates performance

arousal interpreted as unpleasant hurts performance

what factors must we consider to understand the anxiety-performance relationship?

the intensity (facilitative anxiety or how much anxiety one feels)

the direction (debilitative anxiety or a person’s interpretation of anxiety as facilitative or debilitating to performance)

how does view of anxiety affect performance?

viewing anxiety as facilitative leads to superior performance

state anxiety is perceived as facilitative or debilitative depending on how much control the person perceives

developing cognitive skill and strategies helps people view anxiety as facilitative

what are the facets of arousal?

physical activation of arousal and interpretation of arousal

what do performers seek for the best performance?

the optimal mix of these emotions (related to arousal), which are highly individual and task specific

what factors are critical to perceiving anxiety as facilitative?

self-confidence and enhanced perceptions of control

are optimal levels of physiological activation and arousal-related thoughts (worry) the same?

no, the interaction of physiological activation and arousal interpretation is more important than actual levels of each

why should “psyching up” strategies be employed with caution?

it is difficult to recover form a catastrophe and these strategies can push an individual over the edge

athletes should have well-practiced self-talk, imagery, relaxation, and goal-setting skills for coping with anxiety

what do increased arousal and state anxiety cause?

muscle tension, fatigue, and coordination difficulties

changes in attention, concentration, and visual search (narrowing of attention, decreased environmental scanning, shift to dominant style, attending to inappropriate cues, performance worries and situation-irrelevant thoughts, difference in identification and processing of visual cues

what is the attentional field with optimal arousal?

it is optimal

what is the attentional field with low arousal?

it is too broad (bringing in irrelevant cues, thinking about unimportant things)

what are some implications of stress & anxiety for professional practice?

identify optimal combinations of arousal-related emotions for best performance

recognize how personal and situational factors interact to influence arousal, anxiety, and performance

recognize signs of increased arousal and state anxiety

tailor coaching strategies to individuals: sometimes arousal must be reduced, other times maintained, and other times facilitated

what are some symptoms of arousal and state anxiety?

cold, clammy hands constant sickness

constant need to urinate difficulty sleeping

profuse sweating increased muscle tension

negative self-talk butterflies in stomach

dazed look in eyes inability to concentrate

feeling ill better performance in nonevaluative

headache situations

cotton (dry mouth)