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Unit 3 - Stress, Anxiety and Arousal

The document discusses the concepts of stress, anxiety, and arousal in the context of sports psychology, defining stress as a non-specific response to demands and categorizing it into eustress and distress. It outlines the stress process, the impact of perception on performance, and strategies to manage stress and anxiety in athletes. Additionally, it explores the theories of arousal, emphasizing the importance of optimal arousal levels for peak performance and the relationship between arousal and performance.

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wethujnr2004
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44 views15 pages

Unit 3 - Stress, Anxiety and Arousal

The document discusses the concepts of stress, anxiety, and arousal in the context of sports psychology, defining stress as a non-specific response to demands and categorizing it into eustress and distress. It outlines the stress process, the impact of perception on performance, and strategies to manage stress and anxiety in athletes. Additionally, it explores the theories of arousal, emphasizing the importance of optimal arousal levels for peak performance and the relationship between arousal and performance.

Uploaded by

wethujnr2004
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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STRESS, ANXIETY

AND AROUSAL:
UNDERSTANDING
PSYCHOLOGICAL
RESPONSES IN
SPORT
What is stress?
Hans Selye (1956) defined stress as a non-specific response to the body to any demand placed on it, meaning
the body reacts in a similar way to both physical and psychological stressors.

Stress can be categorised into two forms:

• Eustress: Is a form of stress that enhances concentration, motivation and performance.

• Distress: form of stress which leads to anxiety, tension and performance decline, especially under high-pressure
conditions

Hans Selye proposed that stress occurs in three stages, known as General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS):

• Alarm stage (Initial shock)


• Resistance stage (Coping with stress)
• Exhaustion stage (Breakdown)
How stress impacts athletic performance

Stress and performance: Two possible outcomes


• Stress can be helpful (eustress) or harmful (distress) depending on how the
athlete perceives it.

How does perception affect performance?


• Challenge – increased motivation and performance
• Threat – increased anxiety and performance drop

What factors influence stress perception?


• Experience
• Personality
• Competition
The Stress Process

Stress occurs when an athlete perceives an imbalance between external demands and their ability to cope.

The process unfolds in four stages:

1. Situational demand – E.g. A high-pressure game

2. Athlete’s perception – Challenge or Threat

3. Stress response – Increased arousal levels

4. Performance outcome – Improved or Worsened


• Understanding the stressprocesscanhelp
one develop strategies to manage stress in
Ways to athletes and prevent negative outcomes.

• Stage1: Situational demand


reduce • Modify training tasks
• Private practice sessions
stress • Use skill stations
• Maximise repetitions
Waysto reduce stress continued

• Stage 2: Cognitive appraisal


• Recognise athletes with low perceived competence or high trait anxiety
• Identify high-trait anxiety athletes – use a checklist
• Utilise techniques to reduce stress perception
• Stage 3: managing the stress response
Waysto reduce
• When stress increases, performance can
stress suffer
• Controlling the stress response leads to
continued better focus and confidence
• Teach athletes’ relaxation techniques:
• Slow down
• Breathing techniques
• Imagery
• Positive self-talk
ANXIETY IN
SPORT
What is anxiety?

Anxiety is a negative emotional response linked to stress, worry, nervousness and tension.

The causes of anxiety are largely the same as those associated with stress.

There are two main types of anxiety:

• Trait anxiety
• State anxiety
THESPORTSANXIETY CYCLE
Anxiety can affect athletes in two ways:

• Cognitive anxiety

• Somatic anxiety

When an athletes repeatedly experiences anxiety in pressure situations, it


creates a self-reinforcing cycle.

The sports anxiety cycle is a patten where a fear of failure keeps reinforcing
itself leading to repeated poor performance.
Effects of
anxiety on
sporting
performance
Psychological Terms
Term Definition Examples in sport
Feeling excited before a
Affect Overall emotional experience
match
A short-term reaction to a A sprinter feeling nervous
Emotion
situation before the gunshot
A footballer being frustrated
Mood A longer-lasting emotional state
all week after a loss
Negative emotional state with A gymnast fearing failure
Anxiety
nervousness and worry before performing
The body’s response to A rugby player feeling
Stress
demands pressure before a final
AROUSALIN SPORT
Arousal is referred to asa psychological state of
alertness and anticipation that prepares the
body for action.

• Involves bodily responses

• Different athletes have varying levels of arousal

In sport, arousal levels can enhance performance.


However, if arousal becomes too high or too low, it
can negatively affect performance.
Theories of Arousal – Inverted U
Theory
• There is an optimal level of arousal that leads to peak performance.
• The relationship between performance and arousal is curvilinear.

Optimal arousal:
• The optimal arousal levels is unique to each athlete
Skill complexity:
• As skill complexity increases, the level of arousal needed for optimal performance
decreases
Motor activities:
• High level of arousal is required for gross motor activities
• Low level of arousal is required for fine motor activities
Sport specific arousal:
• Each sport skill has a theoretical optimal level of arousal for best performance
Performance decline:
• Performance is lowest when arousal levels are either too high or too low
Theories of Arousal – Drive
Theory
This is a linear relationship between arousal and performance
The Drive theory suggests that more arousal is always beneficial if the correct
responses are well-learned.

Performance = arousal x skill level

Dominant response:

• Is an action that will most likely occur in a given situation


• Increased arousal (drive) elicits the dominant response
• Expert vs Beginner
Skill complexity and learning stage:

• Early learning or for complex skills the dominant response is the incorrect
response

• Later in learning or for simple skills the dominant response is the correct one

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