Arousal, Stress and Anxiety

History

Anecdotal evidence suggests ability to cope with pressure is vital for success in sport.

Descriptive research confirms this idea: Gould et al. (2002) found that ability to regulate arousal levels is associated with optimal athletic performance.

“Anxiety” is a construct with three main dimensions - cognitive, somatic and behavioural.

At cognitive level, anxiety involves worry and negative appraisal of self/future.

At somatic level, anxiety involves rapid heart beat, increased perspiration, shortness of breath and other stress symptoms.

At behavioural level, anxiety involves tension, agitation and restlessness.

Anxiety has two main types - state anxiety (transient, situation-specific dread) and trait anxiety (general, enduring trait of apprehension)

“Arousal” is a form of undifferentiated bodily energy or alertness which ranges on a continuum from low (in sleep) to high (intense excitement)

Whereas arousal involves undifferentiated energy, anxiety is an emotional label for a negatively interpreted arousal experience

Many top athletes view pre-competitive arousal as sign of excitement rather than anxiety.

For example, Tiger Woods (2001): “the challenge is hitting good golf shots when you have to … to do it when the nerves are fluttering, the heart pounding, the palms sweating … that’s the thrill”.

Research suggests that arousal can have either a debilitative or a facilitative effect on performance depending on how it is perceived by athlete (Jones and Swain, 1992).

This finding suggests that anxiety scales need to measure direction as well as intensity of emotion.

Arousal

General physiological and psychological activation of the organism that varies on a continuum from deep sleep to intense excitement.

(Gould & Krane, 1992)

Arousal is a blend of physiology and psychological activity in a person, and it refers to the intensity dimensions of motivation at a particular moment. The instenstiy of arousal falls along a continuum ranging from not at all aroused to completely aroused (deep sleep – intense excitement)

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

Physiological state of readiness and psychological activation.

Involves the autonomic nervous system.

Body’s way of preparing you for “fight or flight”.

Yerkes-Dodson Law

Arousal has multiple effects on athletic performance during sports. Arousal enhances blood flow and oxygen in the brain, neural and musculoskeletal systems. Arousal stimulates adrenalin and other stimulant hormone production. Arousal that is excessively high or low hurts athletic performance. Some effects of arousal on sports performance include muscular tension, decision-making speed, concentration and focus, rhythm and coordination.

Arousal increases muscular tension by stimulating blood flow. People with low arousal levels exhibit less tension than people with heightened arousal levels heightened blood flow and muscular tension is necessary for performance during sports and athletic activities. But excessive muscular tension hinders athletic performance because muscle tissue is too stiff to respond appropriately. Stiff muscles may exhibit delayed reactions, early reactions, too much force or too little force. Athletes with muscular tension that is too low exhibit delayed reactions and too little force.

Arousal affects decision making by stimulated blood flow and oxygen to the brain and neuronal system. People with lower arousal levels exhibit slower decision-making than people with heightened arousal levels. Quick decision-making is necessary for performance during sports and athletic activities for calculating and planning and bodily movements. Excessively fast decision-making hinders athletic performance because it leads to erratic decisions that do not effectively evaluate situations. Low arousal and decision-making that is excessively slow hinders athletic performance because these athletes do not have the capacity to adequately calculate responses or response speeds.

Arousal enhances focus and concentration by stimulating adrenalin and other stimulating hormone secretion in the brain. People with low arousal levels may exhibit low concentration and focus that is similar to someone that has just woken from sleep. People with higher arousal levels exhibit heightened concentration and focus. Concentration and focus is necessary for performance during sports and athletic activities to establish competitive advantage against opponents perform efficiently or evaluate situations thoroughly). Excessively heightened concentration and focus hinders athletic performance, because it can lead to hypersensitivity to irrelevant stimuli or blind athletes to other relevant information. Likewise, low concentration and focus hurts athletic performance, because these athletes do not the capacity to perceive and respond to relevant sensory information.

Arousal affects rhythm and coordination by stimulated blood flow and oxygen to the brain, neural and musculoskeletal system. People with lower arousal levels exhibit less rhythm and coordination than people with heightened arousal levels. Rhythm and coordination is necessary for performance during sports and athletic activities to complete precise and efficient muscular movements. Excessive arousal hinders athletic performance because it reduces rhythm and coordination. Low arousal and excessively low rhythm and coordination hinder athletic performance, because these athletes do not have the capacity to perform precise muscular movements.

Stress

A substantial imbalance between and response capability, under conditions where failure to meet demands has important consequences (this is typically what we think of as Distress but we can have Eustress). (McGrath 1970)

Non-specific response of the body to any demand made upon it.

Unemotional bodily response to some type of stressor.

Can be either good or bad, depending upon the individual’s personal interpretation.

• Eustress (e.g., winning a lottery).
• Distress (e.g., receiving a failing grade on a test) .

Stress is a ‘perceived inability to cope with perceived demands’

When demands are seen as negative and threatening…these types of demands are known as STRESSORS!!

• Threaten our self-esteem
• Cause personal harm
• Create uncertainty or fear of the unknown
• Create frustration
• Create pressure

There are many different types of triggers that can cause stress:

• Internal-things we think about e.g. past memories and experiences, current injuries and our own feelings of self worth.
• External- things in our environment e.g. competition, weather, spiders, transport problems
• Personal factors-People we share our lives with friends, family, and life factors e.g. money and health
• Occupational factors-job we do, people we work with and the work conditions. In sport that could be the relationship with team mates etc.

Example

Demand – the stressor (PowerPoint presentation in front of a crowd)

Perception of demand (this is going to be nerve wracking, what if I forget my words and have done it wrong?)

Stress response – arousal of the body and anxiety (shaky voice, sweaty palms, heart rate thumping)

Outcome – poor performance

Before, during or even after a sports event, stress can affect you in many ways that would ultimately determine the outcome of your performance. Under the negative effects of stress a form of psychological tension eg) performance anxiety may develop which has a tendency to distract you from staying focused which in turn would adversely affect the outcome of your performance in any sports event. 

In addition to the psychological effects of stress, we may also experience negative physical effects of stress. Your body may experience physical tension.

Anxiety

Anxiety is a negative emotional state characterized by nervousness, worry and apprehension and associated with activation or arousal of the body. Thus, anxiety has a thought component called cognitive anxiety. It also has a somatic anxiety component, which is a degree of physical activation perceived. In addition to the distinction between cognitive and somatic anxiety, another important distinction to make is between state and trait anxiety.

Tension and worry that results from distress

A negatively charged emotional state characterized by discomfort and nervousness

Two forms of anxiety:

• Trait anxiety: a personality characteristic.
• State anxiety: a “right now” kind of anxiety.

Trait Anxiety-

A motive or acquired behavioral disposition that predisposes an individual to perceive a wide range of objectively non-dangerous circumstances as threatening.

State Anxiety-

Emotional state characterized by subjective, consciously perceived feelings of apprehension and tension, accompanied by additional arousal.

nb: varies according to perceived threat.

Two components of state anxiety:

• Cognitive state anxiety  (psychological component)
• Caused by fear of failure .
• Result of worrying.
• “I am afraid I am going to lose”.
• Somatic state anxiety (physical component)
• perception of physiological responses.
• “I feel nervous before a major contest”.

Drive Theory

“Drive theory” (e.g. Hull, 1943) postulates a linear relationship between arousal and performance

Largely rejected as simplistic and inaccurate (e.g. cannot explain why some athletes “choke” under high arousal)

The diagram shows that the higher the arousal levels the higher the performance levels are going to be. 

Psychologist first saw the relationship between arousal and performance as direct and linear (Spence & Spence, 1966). According to this view called Drive Theory, as an individuals arousal or state anxiety increases, so too does the performance. The more psyched up an athlete becomes, for example, the better that individual performs.

Inverted-U” hypothesis 

(e.g. Oxendine, 1984).

Suggests that arousal and performance are related in curvilinear manner: increased arousal held to improve performance up to certain point beyond which further increases may impair it.

This theory seems plausible but is difficult to test  empirically due to a lack of independent measures of arousal and inadequate specification of point beyond which diminishing returns occur.

Relationship between somatic anxiety and performance takes the form of an inverted-U.

Relationship between cognitive anxiety and athletic performance has been shown to be linear and negative.

Increases in somatic anxiety are associated with improved athletic performance up to a certain optimal level; therefore, athletes should attempt to increase their somatic anxiety up to an optimal level by “psyching-up”.

The lower the level of cognitive state anxiety, the better the athlete will perform; therefore, athletes must learn to deal with the symptoms of cognitive anxiety.

The relationship between arousal states and performance levels. The view holds that at low arousal levels, performance will be low. The athlete is not psyched up, as arousal increases so does performance up to the optimal point where best performance results. Further increases in arousal, however, cause performance to decline. So this view is represented by and inverted U that reflects high performance with the optimal level of arousal and lesser performance with either low or very high arousal. 

The “catastrophe” theory model 

(Hardy, 1996).

Suggests that arousal has different effects on sport performance depending on cognitive anxiety.

Specifically, it increases performance when cognitive anxiety is low but may may lead to a sudden (catastrophic) decline in performance when cognitive anxiety is relatively high.

Some support for catastrophe theory but its complexity makes it difficult to test.

• Deterioration is much more extreme.
• Can not be put right by merely calming down.
• Going over the top!
• Ability to concentrate.
• Recovery can be very difficult.
• Requires mental toughness.

According to this model, performance depends on the complex interaction of arousal and cognitive anxiety. The catastrophe model predicts that physiological arousal is related to performance in a inverted U fashion, but only when an athlete is not worried or has low anxiety. If cognitive anxiety is high the increases in arousal at some point reach a kind of threshold, just past the point of optimal arousal level, and afterwards a rapid decline in performance the 'catastrophe' occurs and can have huge affects on performance.

Reversal Theory

Reversal theory relates to moods and feelings to motivation, arousal and anxiety.

Kerr's application of the reversal theory (1985, 1997) contends that the way in which arousal affects performance depends basically on an individuals interpretation of the arousal level. 

Processing Efficiency: Eysenck & Calvo (1992)

“Processing efficiency” theory (Eysenck and Calvo, 1992) which suggests that anxiety may affect processing efficiency (mediated by working memory resources) rather than task effectiveness

Predicts that anxious athletes will have to work harder to maintain same level of performance they would display if not anxious

Promising theory but has received little attention

Conscious Processing:

Masters (1992)

“Conscious processing” hypothesis (Masters, 1992) suggests  that anxiety may cause “paralysis by analysis” by encouraging athletes to exert conscious control over previously automated skills

Thus anxiety may induce regression from implicit/automatic control to explicit/verbal control

Supported by finding that skills learned implicitly are more resistant to effects of anxiety than skills learned explicitly (Masters, 1992)

However, this finding not replicated consistently

For example: a golf swing professionals not worrying about there golf swing, constantly thinking about it will decrease the chances of them actually completing the swing.

Attentional Narrowing

This diagram shows that to achieve the optimal arousal is to look straight out in front of you so that there can not be any distractions.

Increased muscle tension and coordination difficulties

Attention and concentration changes

Narrowing of attention

Shift to dominant style

Attending to inappropriate cues

Performance worries and situation-irrelevant thoughts

Increased arousal and state anxiety also influence athletic performance through changes in attention, concentration and visual search patterns. For example a ice hockey (goalie) player needs to maintain a broad but optimal focus of attention as three opponents break into is end of the ice. If he becomes preoccupied with the other player who has the hockey puck and not focusing his full attention of the full range then the opponents could easily score past him.