Psychological and Physiological Changes in Competitive State Anxiety during Noncompetition and Competitive Success and Failure

Abstract

In this study we examined relationships among components of the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (cognitive worry, somatic anxiety, and self-confidence) to each other, to physiological measures, and to performance prior to, during, and after a bicycle competition. Undergraduate male students (N=24) participated in three counterbalanced conditions: (a) noncompetition, (b) success, and (c) failure. Participants completed the CSAI-2 at pre-, mid-, and postcompetition in each condition and frontalis muscle activity was recorded at those times. Results revealed that the cognitive and somatic components of state anxiety are moderately related to one another and change differently over time. Intraindividual regression analyses conducted to test relationships between anxiety and performance revealed no linear or curvilinear relationships between any of the CSAI-2 components and performance. The frontalis iEMG/performance relationship was best explained by a linear trend. The findings support the prediction that competitive state anxiety is a multidimensional construct with related components that are influenced differently by competitive conditions and task demands.