Anxiety and motor performance: Where to from here?

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to briefly review the traditional existing theories attempting to explain the relationship between anxiety and motor performance and then suggest some future directions for research. Specifically, a review of drive theory and the inverted-U hypothesis led to the conclusion that due to methodological, conceptual and interpretive problems, these explanations for the anxiety-performance relationship are overly simplistic and lack heuristic value. Future research should focus on the interaction of psychobiological states as they relate to motor performance. Some specific suggestions include more precision in the measurement of anxiety as a multidimensional construct which includes psychophysiological, cognitive, and affective components. In addition, individual differences need to be recognized with intraindividual comparisons replacing between-subject comparisons. Hanin's zone of optimal functioning is offered as one such approach. Finally, more sensitivity and precision is needed in the measurement of performance by employing both qualitative and quantitative methodologies.

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