But what does “arousal” involve? According to Gould et al. (2002), it is a “general
physiological and psychological activation of the organism which varies on a continuum
from deep sleep to intense excitement” (p. 227). In other words, arousal is an
undifferentiated somatic state which prepares people to respond to anticipated demands
for action (Whelan, Epkins and Meyers, 1990). Physiologically, feelings of arousal are
mediated by the sympathetic nervous system. Thus when we become aroused, our brain’s
reticular activating system triggers the release of biochemical substances like epinephrine
and norepinephrine into the bloodstream so that our body is energised appropriately for
action. Therefore, anxiety can be distinguished from arousal as follows. Although arousal
involves undifferentiated bodily energy, anxiety is an emotional label for a particular
type of arousal experience (Hardy, Jones and Gould, 1996). This view is endorsed in a
model of arousal developed by Gould et al. (2002). In this model, cognitive anxiety is
believed to emerge from the interpretation or appraisal of arousal. Therefore, anxiety can
be regarded as negatively interpreted arousal. This proposition raises the question of
individual differences in arousal interpretation.
It has long been known that athletes differ from each other in the labels that they
attach to arousal states. Thus certain bodily symptoms (e.g., rapid heart beat, shortness of
breath) may be perceived as “pleasant excitement” by one athlete but regarded as
unpleasant anxiety by another performer. To illustrate a positive interpretation of an
arousal state, consider how the tennis star Andre Agassi felt about his opening match in
the 2002 US Open: “Going out there I was pretty nervous, and excited, and I felt like I
controlled everything that I wanted to. That’s a good sign” (cited in Wood, 2002, p. S5).
Notice that he labelled his nervousness as excitement. In a similar vein, Tiger Woods
revealed that “the challenge is hitting good golf shots when you have to...to do it when
the nerves are fluttering, the heart pounding, the palms sweating...that’s the thrill” (cited
in D.Davies, 2001, p. 26; italics mine) (see Figure 3.2).
These comments by Agassi and Woods highlight the role that perception plays in the
emotional experiences of elite athletes. For example, a low level of arousal may be
experienced either as a relaxed state of readiness or as an undesirable “flat”, lethargic or
sluggish feeling. This idea that athletes’ arousal levels may be interpreted in either
positive or negative terms raises the issue of what anxiety means to sport performers.
Traditionally, arousal and anxiety have been regarded as factors to be controlled in
case they hampered athletic performance. However, this assumption was challenged by
research which showed that, in many athletic situations, it is not the amount of arousal
that affects performance but the way in which such arousal is interpreted. For example,
Mahoney and Avener (1977) found that successful gymnasts (i.e., those who qualified for
the 1976 US Olympic squad) tended to perceive precompetitive arousal as a form of
anticipatory excitement—a view which apparently facilitated their subsequent
performance. Conversely, less successful counterparts (i.e., athletes who failed to qualify
for the US team) tended to treat their arousal levels negatively, interpreting them as
unwelcome signs of impending failure. Influenced by this finding, G.Jones and Swain
(1992), G.Jones and Swain (1995) and Hanton and Jones (1999) showed that somatic
symptoms of anxiety can have either a facilitative effect or a debilitative effect on sport
performance depending on how the athlete perceives them. Thus a performer who
interprets sweaty palms as a sign of uncertainty is experiencing debilitative anxiety
whereas someone who regards similar symptoms as a sign of readiness to do well is
Sport and exercise psychology: A critical introduction 70