Reframing performance stress: exploring stress mindset, competitive state anxiety, and perceived motivational climates among Division I intercollegiate student-athletes

Abstract

Previous achievement motivation research in physical activity and sport contexts has demonstrated that an ego-involving climate (EIC) elicits significantly greater levels of cognitive and somatic state anxiety (Hogue et al., 2013, 2017) and state cognitive stress (Hogue et al., 2021) compared to a caring, task-involving climate (CTIC). Concerning these findings, experimental investigations have explored the use of psychologically based training sessions to protect against the maladaptive responses often experienced in an EIC (Hogue, 2019, 2020). While the efficacy of cognitive reappraisal techniques has been well documented in the stress response literature (Jamieson et al., 2018), the metacognitive process of stress mindset has emerged as a unique approach with the potential to shape psychological, physiological, and behavioral responses to stress (Crum et al., 2013, 2017). However, little is known about stress mindsets among elite athlete populations. The overall purpose of this thesis was to investigate how Division I intercollegiate student-athletes respond psychologically to different motivational climates in a sport performance context. There were two primary aims for the current study. The first was to compare the effect of the motivational climate (CTIC vs. EIC) on levels of competitive state anxiety among Division I intercollegiate student-athletes. The second was to examine the correlation between stress mindset and competitive state anxiety, and to determine whether this relationship varied based on the motivational climate. Thirty-nine intercollegiate student-athletes (Mage = 20.46 years, SD = 1.68, male = 11, female = 28) from 14 varsity sports participated in a basketball free throw shooting clinic. Participants were randomly assigned to either a CTIC or EIC group, based on availability. Pre-clinic measures assessed perceived life stress and stress mindset, while post-clinic measures assessed the perceived motivational climate and competitive state anxiety (somatic anxiety, worry, and concentration disruption). Results indicated that participants in the EIC group experienced significantly greater levels of somatic anxiety, worry, and concentration disruption during the free throw shooting clinic compared to participants in the CTIC group. Correlational analyses revealed a moderate, negative, and significant correlation between stress mindset and total competitive state anxiety for the CTIC group, whereas this relationship was not significant for the EIC group. The findings of the current study suggest that even Division I intercollegiate student-athletes can be vulnerable to some of the adverse psychological effects of an EIC. In addition, the mastery-focused and supportive nature of a CTIC may enhance the positive effects of a stress-is-enhancing mindset.