THE CONCEPT OF PERFORMANCE ANXIETY AND THE RELATIONSHIP TO ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE

ПОНЯТИЕ ТРЕВОЖНОСТИ И ВЗАИМОСВЯЗЬ СО СПОРТИВНЫМИ ДОСТИЖЕНИЯМИ

Дячук Ольга Владимировна

студент Белгородского государственного национального исследовательского университета, РФ, г. Белгород

In the relevant literature, this issue mainly revolves around the term performance anxiety. Performance anxiety has been viewed as a specific form of social anxiety that 1s not generally found in other areas of life, and therefore can be viewed as a condition rather than a character trait. If a stressful situation/event should be defined as one that presents a certain kind of challenge or threat to a person, athletic competitions can be considered stressful because they challenge the athlete by default and are a requirement for a certain achievement [10]. The somatic component of anxiety refers to its physiological and emotional aspects, while in essence they are a direct consequence of physiological activation. As a result of this activity, the athlete experiences a number of physical symptoms, and these symptoms are recognized as nervousness and tension. It is very important to note that somatic anxiety can affect athletic performance depending on how the athlete perceives and interprets these physical sensations, often manifested in muscle tension or an accelerated heart rate. Cognitive anxiety, as a mental component, arises from negative expectations about the outcome of the competition, lack of confidence in oneself, or doubts about one's abilities. The presence of cognitive anxiety is reflected in the negative self-esteem of athletes, which leads to excessive anxiety, reducing the ability to effectively perform athletic tasks. The third component of the multidimensional theory of competitive anxiety is self-confidence. In sports, the term "self-confidence" refers to a belief in one's abilities and skills. Given the relationship between anxiety and successful athletic performance, there is a direct negative relationship between the two. In a competitive situation, successful athletic performance depends on moderate somatic anxiety and low cognitive anxiety. Moderate somatic anxiety helps an athlete achieve and maintain the optimal level of activation necessary to perform a particular physical activity. Every athlete may experience some level of anxiety before or during competition. While some athletes experience calm, low-intensity arousal, others experience intense and therefore anxious or blocking levels of trepidation. If high anxiety persists during various sporting events, it directly affects the athlete's performance, most likely lowering it. It also resonates as additional negative information for the athlete that he/she is not good enough, that he/she cannot achieve the desired results, affecting their confidence and therefore entering into a series of bad moves, bad decisions and lost matches. In other words, a self-fulfilling prophecy [18]. Levels of cognitive and somatic anxiety increase as the competition approaches and peak just before the competition begins. When the match begins, somatic anxiety decreases radically, and the course of the game dictates a change in cognitive anxiety. Mistakes that athletes make in competition are usually the result of cognitive rather than somatic anxiety, and hence cognitive anxiety is inversely related to achievement. More specifically, an increase in cognitive anxiety leads to a decrease in athletic performance. Most research on sports anxiety suggests that the critical construct to study 15 cognitive anxiety. This term refers to a type of anxiety that 15 future-oriented and occurs in situations where an athlete's attention is focused on anticipated obstacles or where potential failure is anticipated. The general assumption is that the presence of cognitive anxiety alone can reduce an athlete's performance because it is generated by a certain way of thinking, i.e., focusing on potential hazards and obstacles and, as such, can cause not only anticipation of failure, but failure itself [17]. In addition to anxiety, the experience of general self-efficacy is an important psychological construct concerning athletes' success and achievement. Self-efficacy theory is one of the most widely used approaches to assessing the relationship between self-confidence in sport and motor skills. Some authors define self-efficacy as an individual's belief in his or her competence and success in performing a specific task or group of functions and suggest that self-efficacy is an essential part of achievement. The higher the self-efficacy, the higher the performance and the lower the emotional arousal. Conscious success increases expectations of future success, while failure decreases them. In the context of Bandura's theory, self-efficacy is a general cognitive mechanism that mediates human motivation and behavior. Our assessment of our own ability to perform at a certain level affects our practices, our cognitive schemas, and our emotional responses in difficult and challenging situations. In the context of a sporting event, self-efficacy assessment is а major determinant of an athlete's behavior because the competition itself contains specific stimuli and requires the application of certain skills and techniques. Evaluations arethe results of a complex process of self-evaluation and self-affirmation of individuals based on different information about performance . Maddux added two other categories important to this process, emotional states and imagined experiences. Previous accomplishments are considered the most important source of information about efficacy. If the individual perceives his experiences as successes, self-efficacy beliefs will increase, and if he perceives them as failures, self-efficacy experiences will decrease. Relaxation after easy success and reinforcement after failure is a common sequence of competitive «sinusoids» [$]. Information about performance in sport can be obtained by comparing an individual's progress and comparing it to others. This involves observing the performance of other athletes and using this information as the athlete performs. This information is readily available in a collective sport, so players often use it to develop and improve their self-efficacy. During a practice or match, each player has the opportunity to evaluate his or her own performance and compare it to that of others. Studies on athletes show a positive correlation between perceived self-efficacy and performance in many sports. Correctly evaluating his or her effectiveness helps athletes and reduces the fear of injury to the lowest level and thus increases success in acquiring new motor skills.