Do Subjects of Differing Anxiety Levels Perform Equally for Audience - Literature review Example

DO S OF DIFFERING ANXIETY LEVELS PERFORM EQUALLY IN FRONT OF AN AUDIENCE? Introduction Manypeople always find themselves sin situations that cause them to be anxious over different issues depending on the prevailing circumstances. Though it is part of human life and nature, anxiety can sometimes cause some people to break down and fail to perform those tasks that they thought they would do best; for this reason, it is important that people learn how to handle their anxiety under various circumstances. Anxiety can be described as an unlikable state of intrapersonal turmoil or confusion, which is often accompanied by a certain kind of nervous behavior like somatic complaints, rumination and pacing all the time back and forth (Lindsay 2004, 56). It can also be looked as a kind of subjectively unpleasant feeling of dread and various kinds of events that are over-anticipated like the feeling of an imminent death. It is important to note that anxiety is not similar to fear (Pertaub, Slater & Barker 2001, 375). Fear is the actual response to real or certain perceived threats in the immediate environment. On the other hand, anxiety refers to the expectation that a certain threat or worse experience will happen in the future. In this case, anxiety can be seen as a special feeling of worry, fear and an uneasiness that is often generalized and also unfocussed as an overreaction to situations that seem to be subjectively menacing. In some cases, anxiety is often associated with restlessness, muscular tensions, fatigue as well as problems and challenges in concentration (Karunakaran 2011, 49; Bailey & Wells 2013, 328). It is important to note that anxiety can be an appropriate action and feeling; however, when it is not managed effectively and goes on for a long time, it can be dangerous to the particular individual by causing anxiety disorders (Crawford 2004, 518). This kind of disorders can affect an individual’s productivity at the work place, family and in personal life, calling for the need to manage it in the most effective and efficient ways. Do subjects of differing anxiety levels perform equally in front of an audience? People that often have varying levels of anxiety often do not perform equally in front of their audience. Different people often have various ways in which they manage their stress levels, while some can easily put it under control in order to perform well in various disciplines, others, especially those coming into the sport for the first time like athletes and performers can be broken down by it. For most performers, those that ends up failing to manage stage fright end up having high levels of anxiety, which affects their performance. For athletes, the huge expectations from them can sometimes cause the increased anxiety levels to raise their adrenaline levels, which can go either way in terms of the expected effects. Most of the people that have been used to performing in front of big audiences often do not suffer from stage fright (Zandi & Masomi 2010, 161); this means that these people can manage their anxiety levels with much ease and perform better. Some of the sports disciplines like psychology and sociology agree to the fact that being a first time performer in front of large audiences can sometimes be challenging. However, one needs to have these prior expectations before he can begin his performance. For instance, one needs to ensure that he engages with people that have been used to this for some advice on how to manage the adrenaline and anxiety levels in actual performance. Psychologically one needs to be tuned to the fact that the audience is very expectant and get effectively composed, this can help reduce the anxiety levels during his actual performance. It has been proven by various sports psychologists that a close relationship exists between anxiety levels and performance. For instance, in athletes and other performers, high levels of anxiety can often affect their concentration, thus affecting their output (Cohn 2008, 246). For this reason, sports coaches often play an important role in helping such people to effectively control and manage their anxiety for proper performance (Kumar & Shirotriya 2010, 157). In the same way, anxiety can often lead to various levels of physiological arousal among different people. Anxiety can often make one to engage in practices that seem to prepare him/her for the expected incidence. When the anxiety becomes too much and uncontrolled, it sometimes leads to anxiety disorders that can affect an individual negatively like suffering from schizophrenia (Hurst 2000, 432; Bawa 2010, 157). This is the reason, why people are always advised to be firm in their physiological and psychological well being at all points in their lives. However, it should be known that anxiety is a normal part of life, which comes about because of the unexpectations that we often hold over positive and negative unexpectations in the future (Dhiman & Bedi 2010, 160). The benefits derived from this happening depend on the way people manage this feelings, such that effective management yields better returns and poor management of this stress often causes negative effects on the health and psychological well being of an individual. Conclusion Anxiety can cause some people to break records in their various performance and others to break down because of poor management of this particular kinds of feeling. People need to understand that everybody has a certain kind of expectation that they hold for the future, the difference lies in the way, this feeling is handled. However, for sportsmen, they are supposed to keep their anxiety levels as low as possible if they expect to win the races and competitions they are taking part in. During a conference or seminar or any other kind of social gathering, the behaviors that the audience often exhibit depend on the manner in which the particular presentations are being made (Walker 2010, 78; Hsu 2009, 241). For this reason, it is upon the speaker to know how to effectively manage his presentation and deliver his message to the intended audience, as well as other people undertaking other kinds of performances Bibliography Bailey, R., & Wells, A. 2013. Does Metacognition Make a Unique Contribution to Health Anxiety When Controlling for Neuroticism, Illness Cognition and Somatosensory Amplification? Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, Vol 27, no. 4, 327-337. Bawa, H. 2010. Personality hardiness, burnout and sport competition anxiety among athletics and wrestling coaches. British Journal of Sports Medicine, Vol 57, no. 3, I57-I58. Crawford, R. 2004. Risk Ritual and the Management of Control and Anxiety in Medical Culture. Health. Vol 8, No. 4, 505-528. Cohn, P. 2008. 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The effects of imagery in soccer players perceptions of anxiety during penalty kick. British Journal of Sports Medicine, Vol 22, no. 3, I61-I61. Read More