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Chapter 4. Arousal, Stress, & Anxiety. Arousal. Arousal – blend of physiological & psychological activity in a person AND the intensity at the moment. Arousal intensity is on a continuum – low (coma) to high (increased heart rate & respiration, sweat) Can be pleasant or unpleasant. Anxiety.
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Chapter 4 Arousal, Stress, & Anxiety
Arousal • Arousal – blend of physiological & psychological activity in a person AND the intensity at the moment. • Arousal intensity is on a continuum – low (coma) to high (increased heart rate & respiration, sweat) • Can be pleasant or unpleasant
Anxiety • A negative emotional state that has worry, nervousness, apprehension and associated with activation or arousal of the body • Two parts: • cognitive anxiety – thought – worry, apprehension • Somatic anxiety – the degree of physical activity perceived.
Two types of anxiety 1) State anxiety – the ever-changing mood component • Cognitive state anxiety – the degree one worries or has negative thoughts • Somatic state anxiety – the moment-to moment changes in perceived physiological activation.
Two types of anxiety – cont. 2) Trait Anxiety - a part of the personality – an acquired behavioral tendency of disposition that influences behavior • This predisposes an individual to perceive as threatening things that really aren’t threatening. • They may respond with state anxiety reactions that do not really fit the situation.
High trait-anxious people usually have more state anxiety in highly competitive, evaluative situations than do people with lower trait anxiety.
Measuring anxiety and arousal • May look at physical changes: heart rate, respiration, skin conductivity, biochemistry • May have the person report “my hands are sweating.” Called – self-report measures • May rate low to high
Generally, if you have high trait anxiety, you will have high state anxiety. • May be situation specific. • May learn coping skills to over come this.
Stress and stress process • Stress – occurs when there is a substantial imbalance between the physical & psychological demands placed on an individual and his/her response capability – and under conditions where failure to meet the demand has important consequences.
Four stage stress process You can intervene at any time
Sources of stress and anxiety 1-Situational sources of stress • event importance • uncertainty 2-Personal sources of stress • trait anxiety • self-esteem • social physique anxiety
How arousal & anxiety affect performance • Drive Theory – as an individual’s arousal or state anxiety increase, so does his or her performance. - Related to social- facilitation theory
Social facilitation theory – predicts that the presence of others helps performance on well-learned or simple tasks and inhibits or lessens performance on unlearned or complex tasks. • So increased arousal will bring out the dominant response • Implication – eliminate audiences and evaluation in learning situations
2) Inverted-U Hypothesis –as arousal increases, so does performance up to an optimal point where best performance results, Further increases in arousal, however, cause performance to decline.
Inverted C theory – cont. • Maximum arousal level is lower when: need fine muscle control (archery) or have to make complex decisions (quarterback).
Maximum arousal level is higher when: skills are mostly large muscle actions (weight lifter) or simple decisions are needed (cross country skiing).
3) Individualizing zones of optimal functioning • Athletes have a zone of optimal state anxiety in which their best performance occurs. • Does NOT have to be at the midpoint of the continuum, but varies with each person • Optimal level is NOT one point, but a bandwidth.
4) Other Theories - un-tested or little support a) Multidimensional Anxiety Theory • Looks at how somatic anxiety and cognitive anxiety affect performance. b) Catastrophe Model – performance deteriorates with worry + high physical arousal c) Reversal – how the athlete interprets arousal will impact performance. (Can shift positive to negative and vice versa.)
Anxiety – Direction and intensity • How an athlete interprets the direction of anxiety (facilitating or debilitating) has a significant effect on the anxiety-performance relationship.
Anxiety – Direction and intensity – cont. • To understand the anxiety-performance relationship, both the intensity (how much anxiety one feels) and direction (a person’s interpretation of anxiety as being facilitating or debilitating to performance) must be considered. • Coaches should help athletes realize that arousal & anxiety are conditions of excitement - not fear
Significance of Arousal-Performance Views • Arousal and state anxiety do not always have a negative effect on performance—they can be facilitative or debilitative depending on the interpretation. • Self-confidence and enhanced perceptions of control are critical to perceiving anxiety as facilitative.
Significance of Arousal-Performance Views – cont. • Some optimal level of arousal leads to peak performance, but the optimal levels of physiological activation and arousal-related thoughts (worry) are not the same. • Interaction of physiological activation and arousal interpretation is more important than actual levels of each.
Significance of Arousal-Performance Views – cont. • Psyching-up” strategies should be employed with caution because it is difficult to recover from a catastrophe. • Athletes should have well-practiced self-talk, imagery, and goal-setting skills for coping with anxiety.
Why does arousal influence performance? • Increases in arousal cause muscle to become more tense and this may interfere with coordination
Attention and concentration changes Normally:
Increased arousal • Increased arousal causes a narrowing of a performer’s attentional field, misses important cues AND they scan the field of play less often.
Under-aroused • Attention & concentration change • Under-aroused, the focus is too broad – sees relevant AND irrelevant cues
Implications for practice • Identify the optimal combination of arousal related emotions needed for best performance a) Help athletes find this combination b) Help athletes use strategies to maintain this combination.
Implications for practice • Recognize how personal and situational factors interact to influence arousal, anxiety, and performance
Implications for practice 3) Recognize the signs of increased arousal and anxiety in participants • cold, clammy hands • need to urinate frequently, • profuse sweating, • negative self-talk • dazed look in the eyes • increased muscle tension • butterflies in stomach • feel ill, headache, dry mouth, constantly sick, trouble sleeping, can't concentrate, performs better in noncompetitive situations.
Implications for practice – cont. Tailor coaching & instructional practices to individuals. Ex- High trait anxiety + low self-esteem in a very evaluative situation = de-emphasize situation and stress athlete’s preparation.
Moderate levels of trait anxiety + moderate self esteem in high stress = ok • Low trait anxiety + high self-esteem in a non-threatening environment = must have pep talk
Implications for practice – cont. Develop confidence in performers to help them cope with increased stress and anxiety. • To increase confidence: • foster a positive environment, i.e., give frequent and sincere encouragement • instill a positive orientation to mistakes and losing. If losing becomes too important, they won’t get better. • provide many simulation situations – practice for the unexpected.