THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMPETITIVE ANXIETY AND SELF-PRESENTATIONAL CONCERNS682

Abstract

The primary purpose of this investigation was to examine Leary's (1992) contention that competitive anxiety is simply a consequence of the self-presentational concerns associated with competition. The secondary purposes included exploring alternative classes of self-presentational threat inherent in sport, and exploring the utility of multidimensional competitive anxiety measurement. Intercollegiate athletes (N=199) completed inventories assessing socio-evaluative concern, competitive trait anxiety, and self-presentational concern. Principal axis factor analysis (varimax rotation) revealed four latent classes of self-presentational concern (performance inadequacy, fatigue/exertion, physical appearance, and athletic ability) which accounted for 61% of the variance and demonstrated adequate reliability (Alpha coefficients ranged from.90 to.95). Correlation analysis indicated self-presentational concern was more strongly associated with cognitive(r=.34 to.71) rather than somatic (r=..25 to.42) anxiety. Structural Equation Modeling analyses were used to evaluate the hypothesized relationship between self-presentational concern and competitive anxiety. Self-presentational predictors accounted for 61% (multidimensional) and 21%(unidimensional) of the competitive anxiety variance. These results partially support Leary's (1992) assertions regarding the relationship between self-presentational concern and competitive anxiety. In addition, several classes of potential self-presentational concern were identified, and the case for multidimensional measurement of competitive anxiety was supported.