Effects of Arousal, Anxiety and Stress on Performance of Individuals - Term Paper Example

Effects of Arousal, Anxiety and Stress on Performance of Individuals Introduction The three concepts are interrelated and in most cases used together. Anxiety is defined as a negative emotional of worry, nervousness, apprehension which is associated with body arousal and activation. While arousal as been used in definition of anxiety, it refers to blend of psychological and psychological activity in individuals which can be pleasant, unpleasant and of high or low intensity. Stress among individuals arises when there is a differential imbalance between psychological and physical demands imposed to them, testing their capability to accomplish the given task, failure to leads to negative consequences. Both terms affect performance of individuals either in work set up or in sporting activities (Cannon & Salas, 2013). Background of study According to Driskill (2009) performance of individuals is directly depended on psychological and physical conditions of individuals, where performance measures include, good results, better results and increased turnover. Individuals are surrounded with various sources of stress, anxiety and arousal. The sources of stress and anxiety in individuals include: trait anxiety, self esteem and social physique anxiety. It is outlined that individuals with high trait anxiety will have a higher state of anxiety. Those who are faced with arousal symptoms have feelings of worry, nervousness and apprehension, this then leads to types of anxiety cognitive (having negative thoughts) and somatic (having perceived physiological arousal). The key influence of arousal on individual muscle tissue is its ability to stimulate blood flow increasing adrenaline; blood is pumped to the rest of the body. The stimulation of body creates muscle tension that is helpful in enhancing performance. Arousal and anxiety can be measured by looking at physical changes (respiration, heart rate) and behavior of the individuals (where the individuals either lack interest, or feel withdrawn completely. In some individuals predominantly sports persons, optimum arousal can occur which is a result from having a balance between over and under arousal. Psychologists and physicians have outlined some of the signs for anxiety, arousal and stress as; profuse sweating, headache, dry mouths, ill feeling, difficulties sleeping, negative self talk, constant state of frequent urination, butterflies in stomachs, dazed look in eyes and non evaluation on situation where there is better performance. The signs from the three concepts (anxiety, arousal and stress) are useful in coming up with the best combination of emotions needed for good performance (Cannon & Salas, 2013). Statement of problem Human performance in a situational or organizational framework can be evaluated and reported, but it becomes difficult to evaluate human factors that are psychological or physical affecting performance. The three psychological factors affecting individuals include; arousal, anxiety and stress. The findings of arousal on performance of individuals are of two levels it can hinder as well promoting performance. The positive level of performance is associated with a greater urge of carrying out an activity resulting from sympathetic autonomic nervous system preparing body for action (Cannon & Salas, 2013). The negative level of performance is associated with biological rhythms that affect how a person performs. Anxiety which is both cognitive and somatic is likely to occur on stressful conditions. Individuals when faced with demand to perform them either become aroused or anxious, which can have a positive or negative effect on performance. Psychologists argue that the three psychological factors affect emotion of an individual and there is no direct measure to tackle them. By establishing factors that can affect state of anxiety can directly lead to heightened arousal and coping up with best mechanisms and tools. Arousal, anxiety and stress do have a significant influence on individual behavior so directly they affect performance. To be able to understand effects of the three psychological factors on performance the paper will seek to answer the following research questions: 1. What effects do arousal, anxiety and stress have on performance of individuals? 2. Are there measures and remedies towards effects of arousal, anxiety and stress on individuals? Methodology The research literature that explains supports and addresses anxiety, arousal and stress, theories opined to explain the effects of each of the three concepts on performance, and empirical data that supports related findings on the topic are large and diverse. In attempting to explain the theme of the research paper, documentary review research design will be used to synthesize and organize different theories to explain relationship between anxiety, arousal, stress and performance of individuals. The information from theoretical framework will form the basis of the findings and conclusion of the paper. Discussion and findings Due to different meanings contributions, and interpretation of the three terms arousal, stress and anxiety it is important to establish independently their relationship to individual’s performances. A number of theories have been provided independently to explain relationship of each of them on performance. Arousal, anxiety and performance of individuals Arousal and anxiety can manifest itself in individuals in form of psychological and physical activity, physicians and psychologists have defended that arousal can affect performance in many ways. There are a number of theories explaining how arousal and anxiety levels can affect performance of individuals. Christianson (2010) states that the drive theory states that the more one becomes aroused the more they improve on their performance. The theory was developed by Hull in 1943, the more one becomes aroused the more his/her simple and habitual habits increases. The level of performance is also depended on responses; if it is a correct one then one does well and practices more resulting to better performances. Researchers have also argued that performance does not always improve with ever increasing amounts of arousal, much of arousal have a negative effect of performance. The drawback of the theory is that it ignores all kind of arousals thus it becomes difficult to measure habitual responses. In explaining more the effect of anxiety and arousal on performance of individuals, optimal arousal theory also known as inverted U hypothesis is used. The theory suggests that when there are increased levels of arousal performance is energized to a certain optimal level, but if more levels of arousals exceed that limit it directly interferes with performance by inhibiting it. The theory is depended on other personal factors of individuals; individuals have different arousal optimal zones. There are some individuals who need more arousal to reach the peak, while others reach the peak easily (Stammers, 2011). Arousal and anxiety effects on performance will depend on how improved performance can be achieved more likely through practice levels and availability of skills. Performance will not always smoothly change with arousal levels, a U turn hypothesis can be used to explain a condition of low cognitive anxiety. If high levels of cognitive anxiety accompany psychological arousal, then there will be a small increase beyond a optimum which leads to catastrophic fall in performance (Stammers, 2011). Based on individual different characteristics and personality, individual zones of optimal functioning theory were established. The theory takes account of individual’s different levels of arousal and anxiety that provide distinctive levels of performance. For example other individuals perform their best when they have low anxiety, while others need an average or high amount of anxiety. This shows that the level of performance of individuals is depended on amount of anxiety and arousal (Stammers, 2011). Multidimensional anxiety theory and catastrophe model are two theories used to explain relationship between anxiety, arousal and performance. The multidimensional anxiety theory known as theory of anxiety it states that there are direct linear relationship between anxiety and performance. When individuals have anxious thoughts they will have poorer performance and vice versa. The catastrophe model states that as long as there are lower thoughts of anxiety, then performance will be at the average level of physical arousal, and if there is high anxiety the performance will rise and then fall eventually. This means that there exists a breaking point when performance decreases dramatically (Staal, 2011). According to Stammers (2011) anxiety direction and intensity and reversal theories are other additional explanations of how anxiety and arousal can influence performance. The reversal theory states that individual’s interpretation of arousal affects performance. Individuals can define anxiety as unpleasant, anxious and exciting, if it is thought to be pleasant it helps performance, and if bad it inhibits performance. Anxiety direction and intensity states that individual view on own anxiety determines how well or bad his/her performance is, viewing anxiety as being helpful leads to more and better performances. One question that psychologists and physicians attempt to answer is why does arousal influence performance? Medical practitioners have provided answers to the question by stating that arousal increases cause muscles to become tenser and this then interferes with body coordination. Attention and concentration levels are impeded and performance of individuals reduces drastically (Staal, 2011). Stress and performance of individuals Stress is anything that can make an individual to react habitually, however it is understood that individuals respond differently to stress. There are a number of sources of stress to individuals, and this determines how they respond to them. To understand the effect of stress it necessary to outline two types of stress Eustress and Distress. Eustress is known to be the better type of stress which provides mental energy to carry out a task. The best of this type stress is that it continues to motivate individuals to perform more in case of past good performance. Distress is a kind of stress that is negative to an individual as it inhibits performance. Distress can be of different kinds, resulting from different sources of stress (Kararzyna, 2010). The responses towards stress can dictate how individuals can perform, behavioral stress occurs when individuals carry out actions to either make them feel like it is helping them to cope with stress or making them feel confident and comfortable. Mood and performance are easily affected by stress, it is then the duty of each individual to identify the extent of stress to be able to manage stress and improve performance. Distress in particular is characterized with signs like withdrawal, lack of motivation, less efforts; all this signs affect the level of performance negatively. The catastrophe model was used to explain stress and performance it takes account that individuals performance should be free from any external stresses and anxieties which could directly affect their mood states (Kararzyna, 2010). There are two traditional models of psychological stress in relation to performance include stimuli based and response based. The stimuli based stress approach asserts that certain conditions are stressful, example of such factors includes: workload, time pressure, heat etc. These stimuli based stressors are directly affect performance of individual negatively. They are also known as environmental stimuli that can be manipulated to provide a good environment for performance. The response based stress approach holds that stress is based on a pattern of individual responses like behavioral, cognitive and effective. The individual will respond to the three types after being exposed to stress, this responses are different among individuals. Depending on how an individual response behavioral, cognitive or effective will contribute to a level of performance. The energizing model describes relationship between workloads on performance of individuals, huge workloads consumes part of individual psychological efforts that can lead to stress if not managed well. There are other three models derived from resource theory that have been compounded to explain relationship between stress and performance it include arousal theory, signal detection and Yerkes Dodson law models. Arousal theory states that stress arises when an individual departs from an optimal level of arousal, to improve this level motivation play a role in performance outcome. The theory views stress as something that breaches the homeostatic relationship between cognition and environmental demand. Signal detection model states that individuals respond to stress or stimuli naturally, making them to respond to them naturally. Yerkes Dodson law models states stress may result from competition to balance between scarce resources leads to either positive or negative performance (Christianson, 2010). Conclusion In explaining the relationship between arousal, anxiety and stress on performance it was important to understand the conceptual relationships. The emotions of anxiety can create arousal of body parts, which if not utilized well can lead to non performance, eventually a stressful individual. To be able to get good performance there is need to balance between physiological and psychological factors. Anxiety and stress increases when there is increase in pressure, but up to an optimal level it is then necessary to provide motivation to improve performance. The effect of anxiety and arousal is a major relationship to an individual where he/she can develop control of all challenges. Psychologists and physicians need to recognize how situational and personal factors need to interact to influence arousal, anxiety and performance. It is acceptable to have moderate levels of trait anxiety and moderate self esteem when faced with a situation of high stress. Motivation becomes a big factor that can be used to boost confidence of performers who are faced with a situation of increased stress and anxiety. Stress is a term that has become a challenge to define; numerous studies have tried to give their own version of stress. A number of theories have tries to explain the relationship between stress and performance of individuals. Each theory has positives and limitations in providing explanations. Stress depending on nature, levels, individuals and signs can influence performance directly, indirectly, positively or negative. References Cannon Bowers. J. A., & Salas, E. (2013.) making decisions under stress. Washington: DC, psychological association. Christianson. S. (2010). The relationship between induced emotional, arousal and amnesia, Journal of psychology. 25(1), 147-160. Driskill. J. E. (2009). Does mental practice enhance performance? Journal of applied psychology, 79, 481-492. Kararzyna, M. (2010). Pedagogy of anxiety. Journal of University of Chicago. 35(5), 869-892. Mark, A. S. (2011). Stress, cognition, and human performance. Journal of Amis research center. 16(3), 63-94. Stammers, R. B. (2011). Human performance, cognition, stress and individual differences. London: Psychological Press. Read More