Anxiety Flashcards
Define anxiety.
A negative aspect of stress characterised by irrational thinking, loss of concentration and fear of failure.
What is competitive trait?
A personality disposition which reflects the tendency to experience stress in competitive situations
What are the characteristics of competitive trait?
- consistent
- stable
- worrying before all games
- anxious behaviour all the time
What is competitive state?
Anxiety experienced at a specific time during a competitive situation.
What are the characteristics of competitive state?
- situation dependent
- temporary rush of anxiety
- caused by threatening circumstances e.g., taking a pen
- May be cognitive and/or somatic
What does higher trait anxiety do to state anxiety?
Increases it
What the symptoms of somatic anxiety?
- physiological responses
- muscular tension
- shaking
- pacing
- poor coordination
- sweating
- increased heart rate
What are the symptoms of cognitive anxiety?
- psychological responses
- irrational thinking
- worrying
- confusion
- loss of concentration
What are the causes of anxiety?
- being watched
- letting the team down
- playing badly
- injury
- increased competition
- running out of time when losing
What are the 3 ways of measuring anxiety?
- questionnaires
- observation
- physiological measures
What is SCAT and what are the adv/disadvantages?
- Sports competition anxiety test: a questionnaire used by psychologists to measure anxiety- Martens (1977)
Adv:
- cheap, quick and easy
- deals with a lot of info
- allows easy comaprison
Disadv:
- biased answers
- misundertsand/leading questions
- depends on mood
- subjective
How is the SCAT test scored?
- The test questions are 2,3,5,6,8 and 9
- Q’s 1,4 and 7 are not scored
- Q’s 2,3,5,8 and 9 are scored by the following key:
…Hardly ever = 1
…Sometimes = 2
…Often = 3 - Q6 is scored as follows:
…Hardly ever = 3
…Sometimes = 2
…Often = 1
The higher the score the higher the competitive anxiety.
What is observation and what are the adv/disadvantages?
Measuring anxiety by watching
Adv:
- True to life
- During a real game
Disadv:
- Behaviour changed when watched
- Subjective
- Know the performer
- May need more than 1 observer
What is physiological measures and what are the adv/disadvantages?
Measure the physical response from the body
Adv:
- Objective
- Specific
- Factual
- Can be measured in real life situations
Disadv:
- May cause stress when measured
- May need training to use the equipment
- Expensive equipment
- Device may restrict performance
