Citation

Hardy L. Anxiety Stress Coping 1996; 9(1): 69-86.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10615809608249393

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Guastello's method of dynamic differences was used to fit catastrophe and multidimensional anxiety theory based behavior surfaces to data obtained from eight experienced golfers. The subjects were first taught to self-report their cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety, and self-confidence levels as a single integer on a scale from 1 (low) to 27 (high). These single integer scales were then used to monitor levels of cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety, and self-confidence, together with physiological arousal (operationalized as heart rate), prior to each putt during a Stapleford golf competition. All data was standardized within subjects in order to control for individual differences in response sensitivity and putting ability. Preliminary examination of the results suggested that the catastrophe models were superior to the multidimensional anxiety theory models, and that the inclusion of self-confidence significantly improved the goodness of fit of both models. However, further tests of other control models suggested that the apparent superiority of the catstrophe models was probably due to the inclusion of a temporal factor in Guastello's method of dynamic differences. It was concluded that the results do not offer any clear evidence for the superiority of either catastrophe or multidimensional anxiety theory based models of anxiety and performance. They do suggest that self-confidence is an important factor in performance which is at least partially independent of cognitive anxiety. They also suggest that future research might benefit considering performance as an ongoing temporal process rather than a discrete event.