How Well Do You Understand Stress

Understanding Stress, Anxiety, and Arousal in Sports Performance

• Arousal is a blend of physiological and psychological activity in a person that varies on a continuum from deep sleep to intense excitement.
• The Drive Theory suggests that increased drive (arousal) will increase the likelihood of dominant response or most usual behavior. However, this theory has limited empirical support in sports performance.
• Under-arousal can cause athletes to underperform, while over-arousal can lead to stress, anxiety, and physical symptoms like increased heart rate and sweating.
• The Inverted-U Hypothesis predicts that performance effectiveness will increase as arousal increases up to some optimal point, beyond which further increases in arousal will produce a decrease in performance.
• Anxiety is a negative emotional state characterized by feelings of nervousness, worry, and apprehension associated with activation or arousal of the body.
• Trait anxiety is an aspect of personality, while state anxiety refers to how an individual feels in the moment.
• Cognitive anxiety is concerned with the extent to which one worries or has negative thoughts, while somatic anxiety is concerned with the moment-to-moment changes in one's perception of physiological activation.
• The Multidimensional Anxiety Theory predicts different relationships between different components of anxiety and performance, while the Catastrophe Theory focuses on the interactive effects of arousal, cognitive anxiety, and performance.
• The Individual Zone of Optimal Functioning (IZOF) Model suggests that the optimal level of arousal varies depending on an individual's skill level, personality characteristics, and the nature of the task being performed.
• Elite athletes are able to consistently maintain a facilitative interpretation of anxiety, especially through using psychological skills like goal setting, imagery, and self-talk.
• Stress is a process that occurs when people perceive an imbalance between the physical and psychological demands on them and their ability to respond.
• Recognizing the signs of arousal and state anxiety, such as cold, clammy hands or negative self-talk, can help athletes control pressurized situations and interpret their symptoms in a more facilitative rather than debilitative way.