Losing It: The Importance Of Anxiety and Mood Stabhjty In Sport

Abstract

Interest in anxiety, stress, and mood in sport has frequently focused on the impact of these variables on performance in sport (Jones, 1995). This body of work has generally defined anxiety and stress in negative terms, and little attention has been directed at the importance of the loss of mood and anxiety stability in sport. The broad purpose of this study was to highlight the importance of the meaning that participants in sport attach to anxiety and other mood states, in part by drawing on theoretical perspectives provided by existential psychology. More specifically, the greater focus on the importance of loss in relation to both the emotional and behavioral lives of individuals in sport represents a departure from concern over levels of mood and anxiety, which has dominated most research in this area. Analysis of both qualitative and quantitative diary data provided over a 28-day period by elite-level netball players and rugby referees revealed that losses in terms of mood stability correlated more strongly with important non-sport-related life events and that anxiety levels did not rise in the predicted fashion prior to matches. These and other illustrative results are discussed in relation to the need to use methodological approaches that facilitate the generation of individualized combined quantitative and qualitative longitudinal data