6.2 Anxiety Flashcards
Anxiety
A level of nerves and irrational thinking
Competitive trait anxiety
A disposition to suffer from nervousness in most sporting situations
Competitive state anxiety
A nervous response to specific situations
Somatic anxiety
Physiological response - such as muscular tension and increased heart rate
Cognitive anxiety
A psychological response - it refers to potential irrational thinking, worrying about loosing
Questionnaire
Where the performer is asked a series of questions about their emotions in different situations
Sports Competition Anxiety Test
A questionnaire designed by Mertens in 1977 - it consists of fifteen questions and is designed to measure anxiety
Competitive Sports Anxiety Inventory
In 1990 Mertens extended the Sports Competition Anxiety Test, this new test has a maximum of 36 score
Advantages of a questionnaire
It is cheap, quick, efficient and results can be compared easily
Disadvantage of a questionnaire
- Answers may be inaccurate and untrue - people might give sociably acceptable answers instead of honest answers
- Questions may be misunderstood
- Answers depend on mood
- Answers depend on the time it takes to complete the questionnaire - they may start rushing
- Questions may be inappropriate and lead to biased answers
Causes of anxiety
Being watched, letting the team down, referring decisions, running out of time when loosing, increased competition, injury, playing badly
What are physiological measures
These measure the physical response from the body
Advantages of physiological measures
- They are factual so comparisons can be easily made
- They can measure anxiety in game situations and in training
Disadvantages of physiological measures
- Training may be require to use equipment and cost may inhibit use
- Wearing the device may restrict movement
- The fact that the performer is aware they are being measured may extra stress and give a false reading
