Abstract
Mastery imagery (i.e., images of being in control and coping in difficult situations) is used to regulate anxiety. The ability to image this content is associated with trait confidence and anxiety, but research examining mastery imagery ability's association with confidence and anxiety in response to a stressful event is scant. The present study examined whether trait mastery imagery ability mediated the relationship between confidence and anxiety, and the subsequent associations on performance in response to an acute psychological stress. Participants (N = 130; 55% male; Mage = 19.94 years; SD = 1.07 years) completed assessments of mastery imagery ability and engaged in a standardized acute psychological stress task. Immediately prior to the task, confidence, cognitive and somatic anxiety intensity, and interpretation of anxiety symptoms regarding the task were assessed. Path analyses supported a model whereby mastery imagery ability mediated the relationship between confidence and cognitive and somatic anxiety interpretation. Greater mastery imagery ability and confidence were both directly associated with better performance on the stress task. Mastery imagery ability may help individuals experience more facilitative anxiety and perform better during stressful tasks. Improving mastery imagery ability by enhancing self-confidence may help individuals successfully cope with anxiety elicited during stressful situations.
Highlights
Events in life that require optimal performance of the individual are often associated with increased feelings of psychological stress
The aim of the present study was to examine whether mastery imagery ability mediated the relationship between confidence and anxiety in response to an acute psychological stress task, and if the anxiety experienced was associated with subsequent performance
The aim of the present study was to examine the extent to which individual differences in mastery imagery ability mediated the relationship between confidence and anxiety responses immediately prior to a standardized acute psychological stress task, and the associations these variables had with subsequent performance on the task
Summary
Events in life that require optimal performance of the individual are often associated with increased feelings of psychological stress (e.g., sporting competition, job interview, giving a speech in class) Experiences of such stress can negatively impact our cognitions and emotions (e.g., feelings of anxiety), and how we perform (Lazarus et al, 1952; Cohen, 1980). Somatic anxiety refers to the bodily symptoms and sensations experienced (Martens et al, 1990), such as increases in heart rate, perspiration, and respiration Both cognitive anxiety and somatic anxiety are typically elevated when exposed to an acute psychological stress (Williams et al, 2017) and can account for a large proportion of variance in performance during stressful situations (Seipp, 1991). Anxiety is an important emotion to study when examining factors associated with better performance
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