AROUSAL, STRESS AND ANXIETY

MXOLISI NDLOVU
 Learning Outcomes
At the end of this lecture, you should be able to:

 Explain the differences between stress, anxiety and arousal.

 Define stress, anxiety and arousal.

 Highlight McGrath’s Stress Process.

 Discuss applied implications of process.

 Explain basic theories associated with stress, anxiety and arousal.

Problems with the Terms
Interpretive problems as terms are used
interchangeably although conceptually distinct.
There is a need to eliminate semantic confusion.
Provide operational definitions for
 Stress
 Anxiety
 Arousal
Definations
Arousal: is a general physiological and psychological
activation, varying in intensity along a continuum from
deep sleep to intense excitement (Weinberg and Gould,
2007).
 Arousal not automatically associated with either pleasant
or unpleasant events.

“The intensity dimension of behaviour” (Gill, 1986)

“An energising function that is responsible for the
harnessing of the body’s resources for intense and
vigorous activity (Sage, 1984)
Arousal:
Low Arousal… …High Arousal

Deep sleep Excitement

Meditation Extreme distress
Anxiety
Weinberg and Gould (2007) propose that, anxiety is a
“negative emotional state characterised by
nervousness, worry, and apprehension and associated
with activation of arousal of the body”.

“…anxiety states are characterised by subjective

consciously perceived feelings of apprehension and
tension, accompanied by, or associated with activation
of the autonomic nervous system (Speilberger, 1966)
Is Arousal the Same as Anxiety?
Arousal is a general physiological and psychological
activation varying in intensity along a continuum.

Anxiety is a negative emotional state with feelings of

worry, nervousness, and apprehension associated with
activation of the body.
Anxiety Types
Physical component: somatic anxiety – clammy hands,
need to urinate, sweating, butterflies, feeling ill, dry
mouth, thirst, muscle tension etc.
Thought component: cognitive anxiety – nerves,
worry, negative self-talk, inability to concentrate etc.
State Anxiety
This is a temporary, ever-changing emotional state of
subjective, consciously perceived feelings of
apprehension and tension, associated with activation of
the autonomic nervous system (Weinberg and Gould,
2007).

Cognitive state anxiety – moment-to-moment changes in

worries and negative thoughts.

Somatic state anxiety – moment-to-moment changes in

perceived physiological arousal.
CSAI-2:
(Martens, Vealey & Burton, 1990)
Measurement Issues
There have been doubts cast over the reliability and
validity of the CSAI 2 and as such it is not a good
measure for sports science research.
Trait Anxiety
Stable and enduring.
“....predisposes an individual to perceive as threatening
circumstances that are objectively not dangerous and
then respond with disproportionate state anxiety.”
(Weinberg and Gould, 2007)
Cognitive trait anxiety – a predisposition to worries
and negative thoughts.
Somatic trait anxiety – a predisposition to changes in
physiological arousal.
SCAT (Martens, 1977)
Measuring Arousal and Anxiety
• Measured physiologically and through psychologically
ways.
• Arousal: changes in physiological signs: heart rate,
respiration, skin conductance and biochemistry.
• Self-report measures also used.
• A direct relationship exists between a person’s level of
trait anxiety and state anxiety although the relationship
is not perfect.
Stress
Stress: “...is a substantial imbalance between demand
(physical or psychological) and response capability, under
conditions where failure to meet that demand has important
consequences” (McGrath, 1970, p.20).
Stress can only be sensibly defined as a perceptual
phenomenon arising from a comparison between the demand
on the person and his or her ability to cope. An imbalance in
this mechanism, when coping is important gives rise to the
experience of stress and to the stress response (Cox, 1978)
Stress results from an imbalance between demands and
resources (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984).
 A certain amount of stress can enhance performance and well
being, but excessive can impair mental, emotional and
physiological abilities.

Mental, emotional,
Optimal and physiological
HIGH performance and limitations
well-being
PERFORMANACE
HEALTH AND

DISTRESS
EUSTRESS

LOW
LOW OPTIMAL HIGH

STRESS
 The Stage 1

Stress
Process Stage 2

CHARACTERISITCS OF
THE STRESS PROCESS
1. Defined as a sequence of
events leading a specific
behaviour and not in an
emotional context. Stage 3

2. Viewed in a cyclical fashion.

3. Can be positive or negative.
4. Emphasis placed not only on
situation but on athlete’s
perception of the situation. Stage 4
 Applied Example
Perceives situation Look forward to
as demanding competition

Too demanding
Challenge

High
Optimal level
anxiety
of arousal

Negative affect – Positive affect –

Poor performance Good performance
Stress and Stress Process Implications
Intervention may be done during any of the 4 stages of
the stress process or cycle.
Situational Sources of Stress
Event importance: the more important the event, the
more stress provoking it will be generally (Weinberg
and Gould, 2007)
The importance of an event is person-specific.
Uncertainty: the more uncertain an individual feels
about an event or others’ feelings and evaluations, the
greater the state anxiety and stress.
Personal Sources of Stress
• Trait anxiety: this is a personality factor that
predisposes an individual to view competition and
social evaluation as more or less threatening.
• Self-esteem: athletes with low self-esteem might have
less confidence and experience more state anxiety than
those with a high self-esteem.
• Social physique anxiety: this is a personality
disposition in which individuals become anxious when
others observe the physiques (Hart, Leary, and
Rejeski, 1989).
 Interactional Model of Anxiety

Personality
Situational
Factors
•Trait anxiety Factors
Person-by- •Importance
•Self esteem
situation •Uncertainty
•Social physique
interaction
anxiety

State
anxiety/arousal
Anxiety Direction and Intensity
An individual’s interpretation of anxiety symptoms is
important for understanding the anxiety-performance
relationship.
Consideration must be given to the intensity (how
much anxiety one feels), and direction (a person’s
interpretation of anxiety as being facilitating or
debilitating to performance), in order to understand the
anxiety performance relationship.
Significance of the Arousal-Performance
Views
Arousal and state anxiety do not always have a
negative effect on performance - they can be
debilitative or facilitative depending on the
interpretation.
Some optimal level of arousal leads to peak
performance, but the optimal levels of physiological
activation and arousal-related thoughts (worry) are
dissimilar.
Drive Theory
Psychologists initially established a direct and linear
relationship between arousal and performance (Spence
and Spence, 1966).
According to this theory, as an individual’s arousal or
state arousal increases so does their performance.
Drive energises behaviour and therefore more drive
equals better performance.
Oxendine (1984) argued that in ‘power’ and/or ‘speed’
sports a high level of arousal tends to enhance athletic
performance.
Drive Theory: Linear Relationship
High

Performance

Low High
Arousal
Limitations
In some sports over arousal in some sports may
actually lead to poorer preformance, e.g. false starts in
the 100m start.
Does not explain why athletes ‘choke’ under pressure.
Fatigue component not taken into account
Performance and arousal will plateau at some point
The Inverted-U Hypothesis
Readily accepted by sport psychologists due to
intuitive appeal.
Predicts that as arousal increases from drowsiness to
alertness there is a progressive increase in
performance.
Once arousal continues to increase beyond alertness to
a state of high excitement there is a progressive
decrease in task performance.
Support of the theory on relatively simple tasks (Arent
and Landers, 2003).
Limitations
Does arousal always occur at the midpoint of the arousal
continuum.
Not easy to devise independent measures of the construct of
arousal, as such it is difficult to determine a given arousal as
low or high (Lavalee, Kremer, Moran, and Williams, 2004).
Difficult to induce different levels of arousal in participants
so it is difficult to measure.
Does not take into account
Different skill level
Different situations in a game
Different sporting disciplines
 Blocking
Putting in Bench
in golf volleyball Press

Rugby
tackle

The particular skill may influence the level of arousal

needed.
Gross motor skills – High level of arousal
Fine motor skills – Lower level of arousal
 Advanced

Intermediate

Beginner

Beginners will need a lower level of arousal than an

expert to execute a skill well.
How would a competitive environment affect a
beginner?
Individualised Zones of Optimum
Functioning (IZOF)
Yuri Hanin (1980, 1986, 1997), postulated that top
athletes have a zone of optimal state anxiety in
which their best performance occurs.
Differs from the inverted-u hypothesis in that the
optimal level of state anxiety does not always
occur at the midpoint of the continuum.
The optimal level of state anxiety is not a single
point but a bandwidth so coaches need to help
athletes identify their own specific zone of state
anxiety.
 IZOF

An athlete’s zone of optimal functioning may be at the lower, middle or upper

end of the state anxiety continuum.
IZOF
Evidence: weightlifters whose state anxiety was
outside their ZOF three days prior to competition were
less successful than those who were in their ZOF.

Strengths include: realistic, intuitive appeal

Weaknesses: unidimensional, does not answer why

anxiety influences performances.
Multidimensional Anxiety Theory
Predicts that, “…cognitive and somatic anxiety will
differentially influence performance (Martens et al., 1990)
Cognitive state anxiety (worry) negatively related to
performance as it distracts performer’s attention to
irrelevant anxiety cognitions.
Somatic state anxiety related to performance in an inverted
U, increases in state anxiety facilitating performance to a
certain level beyond which performance deteriorates.
This theory is of little use in practice as it does not state
how the two precisely predict performance (Weinberg and
Gould, 2007).
Effects of State Anxiety on Athletic Performance
As cognitive
anxiety
increases ,
performance
deteriorates.

Somatic anxiety helps performance up

to a certain level.

Gould et al. (1987) believe coaches need to

distinguish between cognitive and somatic state
anxiety.
Multidimensional Theory
Strengths
 Distinction between components
 Initial supporting evidence

• Weaknesses
 Lack of consistent empirical support
 Need greater understanding of somatic anxiety

 Still too simple.

Limitations
Empirical support

Is cognitive anxiety always detrimental?

Still descriptive

Does not consider any interaction between the two

components.

Validity of CSAI-2?
Catastrophe Theory
Catastrophe theory hypothesizes that the best understanding
of the arousal-performance relationship comes from looking
at how cognitive anxiety and physiological arousal interact.
Predicts somatic anxiety to be related to performance in an
inverted-U fashion but only when athlete has low cognitive
state anxiety.
If cognitive anxiety is high, just past the optimal point there
will be a rapid decline in performance (catastrophe_
This is different from the inverted-U because recovery takes
longer.
Has received good initial support.
Low cognitive anxiety = gentle inverted-U relationship
between physiological arousal and performance
High cognitive anxiety = performance improvement as
arousal increases to an optimal threshold, but increases
past that point result in a catastrophic drop in
performance
Low to optimal arousal = positive correlation between
cognitive anxiety and performance
High arousal = negative correlation between cognitive
anxiety and performance
Catastrophe Theory
Once athletes have reached the catastrophe stage they
cannot simple go back to where they previously were
but have to go back to a lower level of anxiety
(Lavalee et al, 2004).
Arousal may have different effects on athletic
performance, depending on the levels of cognitive
anxiety in the performer.
 Catastrophe Theory;
Fazey & Hardy (1988):

a) Low cognitive anxiety b) High cognitive anxiety

 Catastrophe Theory Critique
Need both high arousal and high cognitive anxiety for a
major drop in performance
Some cognitive anxiety is good providing arousal is not
too high
Little support for theory, partly because complexity of
model makes it difficult to test
Practitioner implication: To get peak performance must
manage both optimal arousal and cognitive anxiety
Which Strategy should I Choose?
Interventions need to match type of anxiety symptoms
experienced – the matching hypothesis
Two factors to consider
 Cognitive vs somatic anxiety

(Davidson and Schwartz, 1976)

Significance?
Interaction of physiological arousal and arousal
interpretation are more important than actual levels of
each.

It is doubtful that the optimal level of arousal always

occurs at the midpoint.
Intervention Techniques
All/most strategies for dealing with nerves/anxiety
involve increasing self awareness.
When do you feel most nervous and anxious
What do you think about when you are
anxious/nervous?
What do you ‘feel’ in your body (i.e., what do you
notice happens to you?)
What do you do about it?
When Might Nerves Hit?
Night before an important game.
On the way to to the ground.
In the dressing room.
Walking out.
The first minutes or involvements.
After a series of mistakes or opponent mistakes.
After criticism or sledging.
When the score is tight, limited time remaining, need
to get score/points/wickets quickly.
What do Athletes Think?
Mental changes
 Negative thoughts or images – “What if we lose early
goals/points/wickets.

 Self-doubts – “I am not good enough; what if I am facing

him”

 Easily distracted by consequences.

 Losing concentration on the task.

What do Athletes feel?
Physical changes
 Butterflies in stomach
 Increased heart rate
 Sleepless nights
 Wanting to pee
 Muscle tension in hands/arms
 Shaky legs
 Clammy hands
 Dry mouth
 Irritable, impatient and snappy

 Your body “prepares for battle”

Relaxation Training
Relaxation skills must be practiced on a regular basis
just like any sport skill.

Athletes should become skilled at both complete

(total) and momentary relaxation.

Provide athletes with a variety of techniques for each

type of relaxation.
 Effectiveness of techniques varies between individuals
and within individuals.
Two Categories of Relaxation
Techniques
Muscle-to-mind (afferent)
 Breathing exercise
 Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR)
 Massage

• Mind to muscle (efferent)

 Meditation
 Visualisation
 Autogenic training
 Autogenic training with visualisation
Two Categories (cont)
Either approach can be effective.
Point is to disrupt the stimulus-response pattern of
either efferent nerves leading to the brain or afferent,
away from the brain.
Learning to reduce the firing in either half of the
circuit will interrupt the stimulation necessary to
produce unwanted muscular tension.