The most accepted general definition of anxiety is an
emotional state consisting of subjective, consciously
experienced feelings of tension, apprehension, nervousness
and worry, and heightened arousal or activation of
the autonomic nervous system (Spielberger, 1989). In
the sport setting, competitive anxiety has been defined
as an unpleasant psychological state in reaction to perceived
stress concerning the performance of a task
under pressure (Cheng, Hardy, & Markland, 2009).
There are two components that make up anxiety
including a thought component (e.g., worry and apprehension)
known as cognitive anxiety and a physical component
(e.g., muscle tension and sweating) known as
somatic anxiety. There are also different types of anxiety
including state and trait anxiety, which are important to
understand. State anxiety is an ever-changing emotional
state whereas trait anxiety is a personality disposition
that generally stays consistent across situations. Research
suggests high trait anxious individuals usually have more
state anxiety in highly evaluative situations.
Competitive anxiety has also been measured through
various physiological and psychological ways; one of
the most popular being the self-report measure. To
measure state and trait anxiety, both global and multidimensional
measures are used. For athletes, it is best to
use sport-specific scales such as the Sport Competitive
Anxiety Test (SCAT—trait measure) (Martens, 1977),
Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2—state
measure) (Martens, Burton, Vealey, Bump, & Smith,
1990), and the Sport Anxiety Scale (SAS—trait measure)
(Smith, Smoll, & Schutz, 1990). In addition, some physiological markers of competitive anxiety include
increased muscle tension, galvanic skin response,
reduced flexibility, and increased heart rate.
In acknowledging the significance of sport performance
at the broadest level, understanding the anxietyperformance
relationship is imperative, as this can have a
significant influence on both the athletes’ preparation and
performance in competition. Popular theories of this
relationship include drive theory, the Inverted-U hypothesis,
catastrophe theory, reversal theory, multidimensional
anxiety theory, and the individualized zones of optimal
functioning. Theoretically, sport psychologists have not
reached a definite conclusion regarding this relationship,
but have highlighted the complexity of it, noting how a
performer interprets his/her anxiety might be even more
important than the intensity of anxiety. Initially, researchers
believed that anxiety only had negative effects on performance.
However, athletes can actually view their
anxiety symptoms as positive (facilitative) or as negative
(debilitative) to performance. To examine the anxietyperformance
relationship properly, one must understand
both the intensity (how
