Exam Three Sports Psychology Arousal, Stress, and Anxiety

Arousal

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

Anxiety

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

Cognitive

Somatic

State Anxiety

refers to “right now” feelings that change from moment to moment

cognitive state and somatic state components

perceived control

Trait Anxiety

a personality disposition that is stable over time

somatic trait, worry trait, and concentration disruption

Physiological Signs to Measure Arousal and Anxiety

heart rate, respiration, skin conductance, biochemistry

requires lab equipment

objective

Global and Multidimensional Self-Report Scales to Measure Arousal and Anxiety

CSAI-2, SCAT, SAS

pencil and paper

scored low to high

subjective

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

Sources of Stress

job change

death of family member

daily hassles

money

time demands

relationships

lifestyle

performance outcome

self-doubts

team selection

communication with coaches and/or teammates

injury/illness

Situational Sources of Stress and Anxiety

event importance

uncertainty

Personal Sources of Stress and Anxiety

trait anxiety

self-esteem

social physique anxiety

How Arousal and Anxiety Affect Performance

drive theory

social facilitation

inverted-u hypothesis

individualized zones of optimal functioning (IZOF)

multidimensional anxiety theory

catastrophe model

reversal theory

anxiety direction and intensity

Drive Theory Predictions

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

a constant incline in a graph

Social Facilitation Theory

Zajonc (1965) - revised Drive Theory

the presence of others enhances performance on simple or well-learned skills and inhibits performance on complex or unlearned skills

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

Reversal Theory

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

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

arousal interpreted as pleasant facilitates performance

arousal interpreted as unpleasant hurts performance

Anxiety-Performance Relationship

an individual’s interpretation of anxiety symptoms is important for understanding the relationship

intensity (how much anxiety one feels)

direction (a person’s interpretation of anxiety as facilitating or debilitating to performance)

Facilitative Anxiety

viewing anxiety as positive leads to superior performance

Debilitative Anxiety

Viewing anxiety as negative leads to impaired performance

Perception of Control

internal or external locus of control moderates type of anxiety

Significance of All Arousal-Performance Views

arousal and state anxiety can be facilitative or debilitative based on self-confidence and enhanced perceptions of control

arousal is multifaceted

consists of physical activation of arousal and the interpretation of arousal

it is doubtful that the optimal level of arousal is always at the midpoint of the arousal scale

interaction of physiological activation and arousal interpretation is more important than actual levels of each

limit “psyching-up”

practice effective coping skills

How Arousal Influences Performance

increased muscle tension, fatigue, and coordination difficulties

changes in attention, concentration, and visual search (narrowing of attention, shift to dominant style, attending to inappropriate cues, performance worries and situation-irrelevant thoughts, visual cues are differently identified and processed when performers are anxious)

Symptoms of Arousal and State Anxiety

cold, clammy hands

constant need to urinate

profuse sweating

negative self-talk

dazed look in eyes

feeling ill

headache

cotton mouth

constant sickness

difficulty sleeping

increased muscle tension

butterflies in stomach

inability to concentrate

consistently better performance in non-evaluative situations

Developing Confidence

for those with trait anxiety, focus on the process of preparing rather than the evaluation

con