Thesis--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. / Also available via the Internet.

Theses (Ed.S.)--Marshall University, 2006. / Title from document title page. Includes abstract. Document formatted into pages: contains 13 p. Bibliography: page 13.

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This thesis examined stress and anxiety in sport from a number of different perspectives. It is written as a series of research papers (chapters). Before the research papers, a critical review chapter is presented on the research and theory relevant to stress and anxiety in sport. One of the issues to arise from the review chapter was the relative merit of multidimensional anxiety theory and catastrophe models. In multidimensional anxiety theory, it is unclear whether cognitive anxiety and selfconfidence are viewed as being conceptually independent or conceptually codependent. In higher-order catastrophe models, self-confidence is viewed as being conceptually independent of cognitive anxiety and is expected to moderate the interactive effects of cognitive anxiety and physiological arousal upon performance. One of the aims of Chapter 3 was to clarify whether cognitive anxiety and selfconfidence were conceptually independent. This was done by means of a metaanalysis that explored the relationships between cognitive anxiety and performance, and self-confidence and performance. The magnitude of the (positive) self-confidence mean effect size was significantly larger than the magnitude of the (negative) cognitive anxiety mean effect size. This offers evidence for the relatively strong influence of self-confidence upon performance. It also provides support for the conceptual independence of cognitive anxiety and self-confidence. In Chapter 4, the role of self-confidence was explored within a higher-order catastrophe model framework. This involved an exploratory segmental analysis designed specifically for exploring bias factors in higher-order catastrophe models. This analysis supported the moderating role of self-confidence within this framework. More specifically, the maximum cognitive anxiety x somatic anxiety interaction effect size was at a higher level of somatic anxiety for the high self-confidence condition, when compared to the low self-confidence condition. Another of the findings from the meta-analysis was the dearth of studies conducted with elite performers. The final research paper was an investigation of organizational stress within an elite environment. In view of its exploratory nature, this study was conducted within a qualitative framework. The major sources of organizational stress to emerge from the interviews with elite athletes were: selection, training environment, finances, nutrition, goals and expectations, coaches and coaching styles, team atmosphere, roles, support network.

M.A. (Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

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Matched groups of Grade VI pupils obtaining low, medium, and high scores on the Test Anxiety Scale for Children were compared on the basis of their performances on four school examinations to determine the extent and nature of the relationship between anxiety and school achievement. Analyses were made of the data pertaining to the performances of the boys and girls together, and of the boys and girls separately, on the four examinations, combined, and on each individual examination. Out of a total of 45 possible differences 6 were found to be statistically significant. Results for the girls were negative throughout but medium-anxious boys were found to do less well than their low- and high-anxious mates on two of the four examinations. Groups of boys and girls together showed differences similar to the boys. Statistically significant differences pointed to a “U" type curvilinear relationship between anxiety and performance. An analysis was also made of the power of each of the items on the anxiety scale to discriminate between high- and low-achievers. Twenty-nine of the total of 30 test items failed to discriminate in a statistically significant way between high- and low-achievers. Findings suggest limitations to the use of individual anxiety scores for interpretive or predictive purposes without further investigation. Revisions of a procedural nature were suggested as possible means of increasing the likelihood of obtaining more meaningful results from an investigation into the effects of anxiety on performance. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the applicability of several habituation models to fear processes with special reference to the effects of anxious arousal on fear, fear reduction, and the return of fear. The effects of anxious arousal on self-efficacy expectations were also explored. Seventy-six female undergraduate students who reported a fear of snakes and met a minimum criterion of fear on a Behavioral Approach Test participated in the study. Subjects viewed a videotaped fear reduction program under either control or anxious arousal conditions. Fear and self-efficacy expectations were assessed repeatedly during the first session. During a follow-up session one month later, subjects were re-exposed to the feared stimulus under either control or anxious arousal conditions. Although anxious arousal did not affect fear levels within-session, experiencing anxious arousal during fear reduction impeded reduction of subjective fear and, paradoxically, resulted in less heart rate response upon exposure to the feared stimulus following fear reduction. Return of subjective fear was experienced by all of the subjects except those who experienced fear reduction while in an anxious state and follow-up assessment in a calm state. These subjects experienced a substantial decrement in self-reported fear at follow-up. There was a failure to find a relationship between anxious arousal and self-efficacy. The results were interpreted in terms of several habituation models. It was concluded that the results are better understood in terms of emotional processing models of fear. Novel findings include evidence that: anxious arousal during fear modification impedes the return of fear, and that assessment in a calm state, following fear reduction while in an anxious state, blocks the return of fear. These findings are theoretically and clinically important. The implications of the results to self-efficacy theory were discussed. The clinical implications of the findings were also explored with special reference to relapse. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Stimulus and response expectations play a central role in cognitive formulations of fear and avoidance. Research on this subject has been primarily concerned with the identification of various forms of expectations and their associated biases. Comparatively little is known about the cognitive structures or processes that produce biased expectations. The studies reported in this dissertation were intended to investigate the mechanisms of one bias of fear expectations, the overprediction of fear. This is a common phenomenon in which fearful people tend to overestimate the amount of fear that they will experience upon exposure to a threatening stimulus. Although overprediction is of interest in its own right, it is also important in that it promotes excessive avoidance behaviour, and so contributes to the maintenance of fear. A theoretical framework, called the stimulus estimation model, was proposed for conceptualizing the overprediction of fear. This model consists of an algebraic expression of the elements of overprediction and a set of candidate cognitive mechanisms that generate the algebraic relations. The essence of the algebraic expression is that the overprediction of fear arises from the overprediction of the threatening elements of the feared stimulus, and the underprediction of the elements that confer safety. One of the cognitive components of this model, the selective recall model, states that overprediction arises from the selective retrieval of memories of highly fearful reactions to aversive events. Another cognitive component, the differential-weighting model, proposes that overprediction arises because environmental information about sources of safety has a greater influence on reported fear than on predicted fear. The first experiment tested the selective recall model with a priming paradigm. One group of 50 spider-fearful subjects was required to recall highly fearful encounters with spiders (fear-relevant priming). A second group of 50 spider-fearful subjects was required to recall spider-irrelevant experiences (fear-irrelevant priming). The selective recall model predicts that the overprediction of fear in a subsequent fear-evoking task would be greatest after fear-relevant priming compared with fear-irrelevant priming. Contrary to expectation, predicted fear did not differ between the priming conditions. Reported fear was greatest after fear-relevant priming. Thus, contrary to the selective-recall model, the magnitude of overprediction was smallest in the fear-relevant priming condition. The second experiment tested the differential-weighting model. One hundred and twenty-one spider-fearful subjects were randomly allocated to one of two groups. One group received minimal safety information about a fear-evoking task. The second group received a high level of safety information about the task. It was found that the groups did not differ in their fear predictions, but the high information group made lower fear reports than the low-information group. As a result, the provision of safety information increased the magnitude of overprediction, thus supporting the model. The third experiment attempted to replicate and extend the findings of Experiment 2, using a sample of 224 snake-fearful subjects. Danger and safety information were compared in their effects on predictions and reports of fear. All information effects were nonsignificant. The results of further analyses suggested that this was due to inadequate experimental manipulations rather than to an inadequacy in the model. The algebraic expression of the stimulus estimation model was supported by a series of analyses, including structural equation modeling. Thus, in the case of the fear of snakes, support was found for the hypothesis that the overprediction of fear is caused by overpredictions of the dangerousness, activity level, and size of the snake, and underpredictions of the safety and controllability of the situation. In the final chapter, the utility of the stimulus estimation model was considered, implications for other fear-relevant phenomena were set out, and directions for further investigation were explored. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate