Predispositions to Experience Debilitative and Facilitative Anxiety in Elite and Nonelite Performers

1995 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Jones ◽  
Austin Swain

The major purpose of this study was to examine the distinction between “intensity” (i.e., level) and “direction” (i.e., interpretation of level as either debilitative or facilitative) of competitive anxiety symptoms as a function of skill level. Elite (n = 68) and nonelite (n = 65) competitive cricketers completed a modified version of the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2. The findings showed no difference between the two groups on the intensity of cognitive and somatic anxiety symptoms, but elite performers interpreted both anxiety states as being more facilitative to performance than did the nonelite performers. No differences emerged between the groups for self-confidence. Further analyses showed that cricketers in the nonelite group who reported their anxiety as debilitative had higher cognitive anxiety intensity levels than those who reported it as facilitative, but no such differences were evident in the elite group. These findings provide further support for the distinction between intensity and direction of competitive state anxiety symptoms.

1997 ◽  
Vol 81 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1139-1147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheldon Hanton ◽  
Graham Jones

Described here is a follow-up and extension of the study reported by Hanton and Jones in 1995. Situational antecedents of both ‘intensity’ (level) and ‘direction’ (facilitative/debilitative) dimensions of precompetitive state anxiety in 97 elite and 114 nonelite competitive swimmers were examined. Antecedents were assessed via the modified swimming version of the PreRace Questionnaire, while cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety, and self-confidence were measured via the modified version of the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 one hour before competition. Step-wise multiple regression analyses on the intensity scores indicated that cognitive anxiety in the elite group was significantly related to Perceived readiness (5.6%) and Internal environment (9.6%), while no predictors emerged in the nonelite group; scores on somatic anxiety correlated with those on Internal environment (9.4%) and Position goal (14.4%) in the elite group, and by Attitude towards previous performance (4.7%) and Internal environment (8.5%) in the nonelite group. Self-confidence was predicted by Perceived readiness in the elite group (30.3%) and the nonelite group (16.9%). In the case of the direction scores (facilitative/debilitative interpretations), no significant correlations of scores on cognitive anxiety or somatic anxiety emerged for the elite group; however, in the nonelite group the Coach influence factor predicted cognitive anxiety (4.5%) and somatic anxiety (4.9%). These findings show that common and unique antecedents of ‘intensity’ and ‘direction’ exist for swimmers as a function of their skill and also highlight the important role of the coach in the maintenance of facultative interpretations of anxiety by nonelite performers.


sjesr ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 515-519
Author(s):  
Dr. Farooq Hussain ◽  
Muhammad Shah ◽  
Azmat Ali

Pre-competitive anxiety refers to the unpleasant emotional state of individuals. It is normal for every athlete to feel nervous before a sports competition. The pre-competitive anxiety levels in the current study examined three features i.e. somatic anxiety, self-confidence, and cognitive anxiety between the sample of poor and good performing athletes. The assessment has been made by using competitive state anxiety inventory -2 (CSAI-2), which is composed of 27 items distributed in equal three subscales of pre-competitive anxiety. The sample of the study was composed of 180 performers of different sports, into groups of 90 each good and poor performer whose ages were between 16 to 27 years. Data collected has been analyzed using a T-test. A significant difference has been found in all of the components of pre-competitive anxiety i.e. cognitive anxiety, self-confidence, and somatic anxiety among good performers and poor performers.


1992 ◽  
Vol 75 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1092-1094 ◽  
Author(s):  
Curt L. Lox

This study was designed to test propositions from the 1990 competitive anxiety model proposed by Martens, Vealey, and Burton. Specifically, the relationships among perceived threat and state responses of anxiety, confidence, and efficacy were examined to assess whether perceived threat might explain anxiety and confidence in 52 intercollegiate female volleyball players. Somatic anxiety was significantly correlated with perception of importance of both outcome and personal performance while uncertainty regarding personal performance was significantly related to cognitive anxiety. In addition, perceived threat was significantly related to state self-confidence and self-efficacy.


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. e45475
Author(s):  
Glauber Castelo Branco Silva ◽  
Antônio Carlos Leal Cortez ◽  
José Roberto Andrade do Nascimento Júnior ◽  
Carla Thamires Laranjeira Granja ◽  
Erick Francisco Quintas Conde ◽  
...  

This study analyzed the level of state-anxiety of swimming athletes based on sex, category, competitive specialty, competitive level and competitive experience. Participants were 178 male (n = 105) and female (n = 73) swimmers with mean age of 15.51 ± 1.9 years at regional, national and international levels. The Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CASI-2) was used as instrument. Data analysis was conducted using the independent Student’s t-test, Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis and Spearman correlation. The results showed higher levels of self-confidence in males (p = 0.02) and higher levels of cognitive anxiety in females (p = 0.019). Among the competitive specialties, there were differences between levels of cognitive anxiety (p = 0.045) and self-confidence (p = 0.041) of swimmers. Differences were also observed in levels of cognitive anxiety (p = 0.049), somatic anxiety (p = 0.001) and self-confidence (p = 0.047) between swimming competition levels. It was concluded that male swimmers are more self-confident and less anxious than female swimmers and there are different levels of self-confidence and types of anxiety for different competitive specialties and ranking of competitions.


This study aimed to identify the level of state anxiety among football players of a Malaysian premier league and a university football players. This study involved 40 players aged between 18 to 32 years old. The questionnaire used in this study was Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 Reverse Survey (CSAI-2R) to measure the level of athlete's somatic anxiety, cognitive anxiety and self-confidence. The findings showed that the premier league players has a lower level of somatic and cognitive anxiety than the university players. Premier league players also were shown to have higher levels of self-confidence. Based on the findings, experience and achievement level are the contributing factors in determining the level of anxiety and increasing self-confidence. The more experience and skills the athlete has, the easier it is for athletes to control the level of anxiety


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. e5510716189
Author(s):  
Sergio Costa Ferreira ◽  
Diego Nunes Navarro ◽  
Marlon Lemos de Araújo ◽  
Ester da Silva Caldas ◽  
Diogo Matheus Barros da Silva ◽  
...  

The aim of the study was to compare the values of anxiety in futsal players from different age categories. Materials and methods. The sample consisted of 18 male futsal players which 9 of them are from the under-16 category (mean=16 years) and 9 from the under-19 category (mean=18.22 ±0.22 years). The Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) questionnaire was used, which was applied 30 minutes before the games. Results and Discussion. In individual values, in the sub-16 category, 100% of the players expressed Self-confidence higher than the values of Cognitive Anxiety and Somatic Anxiety and 66.66% of the players had Cognitive Anxiety less than Somatic Anxiety. In the under-19, individual data showed that 88.88% of the players had higher self-confidence than the values of Cognitive Anxiety and Somatic Anxiety. Also 77.77% of the players expressed lower Cognitive Anxiety values than Somatic Anxiety. In relation to the averages, the players in the sub-16 and under-19 categories presented in Low Cognitive Anxiety, Medium Somatic Anxiety and High Self-confidence. The under-16 and under-19 showed similarity in Cognitive Anxiety. In the under-19, Somatic Anxiety was superior to the under-16 and greater Self-confidence in the under-16. In both categories, the anxiety values had the same classification. Conclusion. In terms of average values, anxiety between the categories were different, however, the classification of anxiety was the same.


1996 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 296-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tara Edwards ◽  
Lew Hardy

This study examines intensity and direction of competitive state anxiety symptoms, and the interactive influence of anxiety subcomponents upon netball performance. Netball players (N = 45) completed the modified Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) and a retrospective performance measure over a season, utilizing an intraindividual design. The modified CSAI-2 includes a direction scale assessing the facilitative or debilitative interpretation of the original intensity symptoms. Although the facilitative influence of anxiety upon performance did not emerge directly through the direction scale, a significant interaction emerged from the two-factor Cognitive Anxiety × Physiological Arousal quadrant analyses, suggesting that anxiety may enhance performance, as proposed by catastrophe model predictions. Findings also highlighted the importance of self-confidence for possible inclusion in higher order catastrophe models.


2000 ◽  
Vol 90 (2) ◽  
pp. 513-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheldon Hanton ◽  
Graham Jones ◽  
Richard Mullen

This study reports the findings of part of an ongoing research program examining sports performers' interpretations of competitive anxiety prior to competition. The notion of ‘directional perceptions’ has questioned the limited utility of examining only the intensity of competitive anxiety responses as has Jones. The purpose of this study was to examine intensity and direction, i.e., interpretation of intensity as facilitative or debilitative, of anxiety symptoms as a function of two types of sport. The types of sport were explosive (rugby league) versus fine motor skills (target rifle shooting). The sample comprised 50 male rugby league participants and 50 target rifle shooters who completed a modified version of the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory–2 prior to competition. Contingency analysis yielded a significant difference in the number of rugby players who reported somatic anxiety as facilitative and the number of rifle shooters who reported somatic states as debilitative. No such differences were evident for cognitive anxiety. Analysis of variance Indicated no differences between the two groups on the intensity of cognitive and somatic anxiety, but the performers competing in rugby league interpreted both states as being more facilitative to performance; the rugby league players also had higher scores on self-confidence than the shooters. These findings provide continuing support for the measurement of directional perceptions of competitive anxiety and highlight the importance of examining individual sports.


1984 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Gould ◽  
Linda Petlichkoff ◽  
Robert S. Weinberg

Two studies were conducted to examine antecedents of, relationships between, and temporal changes in the cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety, and the self-confidence components of the Martens, Burton, Vealey, Bump, and Smith (1983) newly developed Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2). In addition, the prediction that cognitive and somatic anxiety should differentially influence performance was examined. In Study 1, 37 elite intercollegiate wrestlers were administered the CSAI-2 immediately before two different competitions, whereas in Study 2, 63 female high school volleyball players completed the CSAI-2 on five different occasions (1 week, 48 hrs, 24 hrs, 2 hrs, and 20 min) prior to a major tournament. The results were analyzed using multiple regression, multivariate multiple regression, univariate and multivariate analyses of variance, and general linear model trend analysis techniques. The findings supported the scale development work of Martens and his colleagues by verifying that the CSAI-2 assesses three separate components of state anxiety. A number of other important findings also emerged. First, the prediction was confirmed that somatic anxiety increases during the time leading to competition, while cognitive anxiety and confidence remain constant. Second, CSAI-2 subscales were found to have different antecedents, although the precise predictions of Martens and his colleagues were not supported. Third, the prediction that cognitive anxiety would be a more powerful predictor of performance than somatic anxiety was only partially supported. Fourth, the prediction that precompetitive anxiety differences between experienced and inexperienced athletes initially found by Fenz (1975) result from somatic anxiety changes was not supported. It was concluded that the CSAI-2 shows much promise as a multidimensional sport-specific state anxiety inventory, although more research is needed to determine how and why specific antecedent factors influence various CSAI-2 components and to examine the predicted relationships between CSAI-2 components and performance.


1997 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 427-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew M. Lane ◽  
Jody S. E. Rodger ◽  
Costas I. Karageorghis

The purpose of this study was to extend research investigating the antecedents of multidimensional state anxiety into the sport of rugby. Participants ( N = 86; age: M = 23.7 yr., SD = 4.8 yr.) completed a 10-item Prematch Questionnaire developed to assess the antecedents of anxiety and the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 1 hr. prior to competition. Factor analysis of intercorrelations of scores on the Prematch Questionnaire indicated that three factors accounted for 63.3% of the variance. These were labelled Perceived Readiness, Match Conditions, and Coach Influence. Stepwise multiple regression indicated that Perceived Readiness predicted rated Self-confidence and Somatic Anxiety. Game conditions also predicted Self-confidence. Collectively, these factors accounted for 30% of Self-confidence and 11% of Somatic Anxiety. No factor predicted Cognitive Anxiety. Findings support the notion that each sport has unique stressors and that researchers should seek sport-specific measures of the antecedents of anxiety.


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