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Get Excited: Reappraising Pre-Performance Anxiety as Excitement
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Individuals often feel anxious in anticipation of tasks such as speaking in public or meeting with a boss. I find that an overwhelming majority of people believe trying to calm down is the best way to cope with pre-performance anxiety. However, across several studies involving karaoke singing, public speaking, and math performance, I investigate an alternative strategy: reappraising anxiety as excitement. Compared with those who attempt to calm down, individuals who reappraise their anxious arousal as excitement feel more excited and perform better. Individuals can reappraise anxiety as excitement using minimal strategies such as self-talk (e.g., saying "I am excited" out loud) or simple messages (e.g., "get excited"), which lead them to feel more excited, adopt an opportunity mind-set (as opposed to a threat mind-set), and improve their subsequent performance. These findings suggest the importance of arousal congruency during the emotional reappraisal process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).
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... Excitement is usually coded as positive in various ways, including in terms of physiology, valence, and desirability (Machizawa et al., 2020). However, it can also be read, to an extent, as an "ambivalent" or "mixed" emotion, since it can include affective dimensions or elements that may be more negatively coded, such as fear or anxiety (Brooks, 2014). People may be drawn towards risk-taking activities, for instance, because they find these exciting, but inherent in that experience is a certain degree of danger, which is precisely what helps make it exciting. ...
... This might be interpreted as individuals reappraising their anxious arousal as excitement and consequently increasing their confidence and improving their performance (Stanger et al., 2018). Through self-statements, such as "I am excited" rather than "trying to relax or stay calm, " cognitive reappraisal promotes a more positive way of thinking and elicits a stronger feeling of excitement, which in turn indirectly affects sports performance (Brooks, 2014). In summary, athletes, at least archers, should understand that using cognitive reappraisal in the field tends to reduce competitive performance by taking up cognitive resources and distracting attention, but when it is applied in a way that enhances confidence (e.g., "the current situation is a challenge for me, and I believe I can handle it"), it may promote competitive performance. ...
Through empirical studies or laboratory tests, previous studies have shown that sport-confidence, attention, and emotion regulation are key factors in archery performance. The present study aims to further identify the effects and pathways of sport-confidence, attention, and cognitive reappraisal (a specific emotion regulation strategy) on real-world archery performance by constructing a hypothesized model to provide a basis for scientific training of athletes to improve sport performance. A survey design was utilized on a sample of 61 athletes (12 international-level athletes, 30 national-level athletes, and 19 first-class athletes) from the Chinese National Archery Team to test the model. The measurement and hypothesized models were tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results indicate that the model fit well and explained 33.6% of the variance in archery performance. Sport-confidence (total effects = 0.574, p < 0.001) and attention (total effects = 0.344, p = 0.009) were important predictive indicators of archery performance, while the relationship between cognitive reappraisal and archery performance showed considerable complexity (direct effects = −0.268, p = 0.020; total effects = −0.007, p = 0.964). We conclude that the development of sport-confidence and attention of archery athletes should be strengthened, but athletes who use cognitive reappraisal in archery competition should be mindful of its potential appropriation of cognitive resources and should be directed to improve sport-confidence or develop a positive orientation to arouse excitement.
... Fear diminishes, whereas excitement enhances performance. Brooks (2014) reported that individuals who deliberately reappraise their anxiety into excitement can elicit the positive performance associated with excitement. ...
This study examined whether impression management exists in the Top 40 Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed companies, in South Africa, based on the narrative disclosure in a chairperson’s statement. The Top 40 JSE listed companies represent more than 80% of total companies listed based on market share and a chairperson’s statement is regarded as one of the most read statements, even if it is not required by international financial reporting standards (IFRS).
Content analysis on integrated reports of the Top 40 JSE listed companies was used to analyse the data. Impression management was examined from the length of the chairperson’s statement, use of passive sentences, use of personal reference, and the sentiment shown in the disclosure tone.
The study finds that the Top 40 JSE listed companies partake in impression management. Further unprofitable companies used more personal references than profitable companies, whereas profitable companies use more positive sentiment than unprofitable companies. The study provides insight on the selective voluntary disclosure tactics used by management in the Top 40 JSE listed companies in the quest of legitimacy and adds to the discourse on corporate reporting by public companies and the legitimacy theory
... Through reappraisal, people may reinterpret discomfort as a positive experience. For example, reframing anxiety as excitement improved amateurs' singing in front of a stranger (Brooks, 2014). Alternatively, research on stress mindsets suggests people can shift their beliefs about the meaning of negative experiences. ...
Achieving personal growth often requires experiencing discomfort. What if instead of tolerating discomfort (e.g., feeling awkward or uncomfortable), people actively sought it out? Because discomfort is usually experienced immediately and is easy to detect, we suggest that seeking discomfort as a signal of growth can increase motivation. Five experiments (total N = 2,163 adults) tested this prediction across various areas of personal growth: taking improvisation classes to increase self-confidence, engaging in expressive writing to process difficult emotions, becoming informed about the COVID-19 health crisis, opening oneself to opposing political viewpoints, and learning about gun violence. Across these areas of personal development, seeking discomfort as a signal of self-growth motivated engagement and increased perceived goal achievement relative to standard instructions. Consistent with our theorizing, results showed that these effects occurred only in areas of personal growth that cause immediate discomfort.
... For example, reappraisal utilizes cognitive change to reframe the meaning of a thought and may have a greater impact on immediate subjective experiences; acceptance, an attitude of receptive and non-interfering openness to experiences and thoughts without changing them, may have a greater downstream impact on physiological responses to stress (Lindsay et al., 2018;Troy et al., 2018). Moreover, it will be important to consider different subtypes of cognitive reappraisal (see Shiota & Levenson, 2012), in addition to reappraisal of stress and arousal states (e.g., see Brooks, 2014;Crum et al., 2020), which may also relate to ELA and inflammation. While the current literature generally supports a linkage between cognitive reappraisal and lower inflammation, further research will help elucidate the unique complexities of other emotion regulation strategies. ...
Chronic inflammation is implicated in a variety of diseases (e.g., cardiovascular disease and cancer). Much evidence suggests that early life adversity (ELA), such as maltreatment or neglect, can increase risk for inflammation in adulthood. ELA may program proinflammatory activity via its effects on brain areas involved in emotion regulation. Of multiple emotion regulation strategies, some are considered maladaptive (e.g., expressive suppression), while others are generally adaptive (e.g., cognitive reappraisal). We propose a conceptual framework for how emotion regulation tendencies may affect vulnerability or resilience to inflammation in adults who experienced adversity in childhood and/or adolescence. In support of this framework, we summarize evidence for the relationships between emotion dysregulation and higher inflammation (i.e., vulnerability), as well as between cognitive reappraisal and lower inflammation (i.e., resilience), in healthy adults with a history of ELA. Plausible neurobiological, physiological, psychosocial, and ELA-specific factors, as well as interventions, contributing to these associations are discussed. Strengths and limitations of the extant research, in addition to ideas for future directions, are presented.
... Instead reappraising the arousal as a sign of challenge or excitement rather than threat, might help children to capitalize on the performance enhancing effects of their physiological response see Biopsychological model of Challenge and Threat, (Blascovich, 2008). Similar effects have already been observed in adults (e.g., Brooks, 2014;Jamieson et al., 2016). ...
Recent studies indicate that math anxiety (MA) can already be found in school-aged children. As early MA depicts a potential risk for developing severe mathematical difficulties and impede the socio-emotional development of children, distinct knowledge about how to reduce MA in school-aged children is of particular importance. Therefore, the goal of this systematic review is to summarize the existing body of research on MA interventions for children by identifying the approaches, designs, and characteristics as well as the effects of the interventions.
A large body of research has documented the ill effects of abusive supervision. However, this begs the question of why these behaviors continue to occur. To address this question, we contend that scholars need to understand how leaders – the perpetrators of these actions – make sense of abusive supervision. Specifically, drawing upon theories of appraisal and attribution, this paper examines leaders’ cognitions of who is accountable for incidents of abusive supervision (i.e., the leader or the subordinate) and their future expectations (i.e., are individuals likely to engage in the same behaviors subsequently or capable of change) and how these appraisals interact to shape emotional reactions. We conducted three complementary studies: a pilot study to identify relevant emotions, an event‐based experience sampling study (Study 1), and a retrospective recall study (Study 2). Accountability appraisals were associated with emotions, such that appraisals that oneself (vs. one’s subordinate) was more responsible for the incident were linked to higher levels of guilt and shame. Although growth mindset moderated associations between accountability appraisals and emotions, it did so for different emotions across the two studies (i.e., hostility in Study 1 and shame in Study 2). Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
The literature suggests an interplay between executive control functions and emotion regulation processes, with each playing a key role in math anxiety. We examined the relation between the use of two different emotion regulation strategies (reappraisal and suppression) and the ability to reduce emotional interference in high‐conflict situations (i.e., executive control of attention) in cases of math anxiety. A sample of 107 adults completed emotion regulation tendencies and math anxiety questionnaires and performed a flanker task following the priming of a math‐related or negative word. The findings revealed: (1) highly math‐anxious individuals had difficulty controlling emotional distractions induced by math information, even as simple as math‐related words, in high‐conflict conditions; and (2) the tendency to use reappraisal in everyday situations was associated with math‐anxious individuals’ ability to avoid heightened emotional reactions when encountering math‐related (i.e., threatening) information. These findings point to the efficacy of reappraisal‐focused intervention and suggest an innovative mechanism through which reappraisal reduces emotional reactions and improves performance among math‐anxious individuals, indicating a new way to approach interventions for math anxiety. In this study, we examined the relation between the use of two different emotion regulation strategies (reappraisal and suppression) and the ability to reduce emotional interference in high‐conflict situations (i.e., executive control of attention) in cases of math anxiety.
"Did you know the most dominant apes and monkeys are usually the kindest? They share the most food, groom others more often, break up fights, are slow to anger, and breathe in a relaxed manner. Those on the bottom of the social hierarchy are the opposite. They are stingy, combative, irritable, anxious, depressed, and they breathe shallowly. It is not easy for a submissive primate to become dominant. They have mindsets, mannerisms, and muscle tension that keep them from escaping their subordinate social strategy and the chronic stress it produces.
All of this generalizes to people. If you want to be free of negative emotion, you need to rehabilitate physical trauma in your breath, eyes, face, voice, heart, gut, spine, and brain. Program Peace will coach you to do precisely this by first retraining your breathing pattern, and then walking you through dozens of innovative and effective self-care exercises. After creating new mindsets and mannerisms, and learning to reinvigorate muscles you never knew you had, you will find yourself more confident, healthier, kinder, and reprogrammed for peace."
In this article, we attempt to distinguish between the properties of moderator and mediator variables at a number of levels. First, we seek to make theorists and researchers aware of the importance of not using the terms moderator and mediator interchangeably by carefully elaborating, both conceptually and strategically, the many ways in which moderators and mediators differ. We then go beyond this largely pedagogical function and delineate the conceptual and strategic implications of making use of such distinctions with regard to a wide range of phenomena, including control and stress, attitudes, and personality traits. We also provide a specific compendium of analytic procedures appropriate for making the most effective use of the moderator and mediator distinction, both separately and in terms of a broader causal system that includes both moderators and mediators. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Happiness is generally considered a source of good outcomes. Research has highlighted the ways in which happiness facilitates the pursuit of important goals, contributes to vital social bonds, broadens people's scope of attention, and increases well-being and psychological health. However, is happiness always a good thing? This review suggests that the pursuit and experience of happiness might sometimes lead to negative outcomes. We focus on four questions regarding this purported "dark side" of happiness. First, is there a wrong degree of happiness? Second, is there a wrong time for happiness? Third, are there wrong ways to pursue happiness? Fourth, are there wrong types of happiness? Cumulatively, these lines of research suggest that although happiness is often highly beneficial, it may not be beneficial at every level, in every context, for every reason, and in every variety.
© The Author(s) 2011.
In this article, the author describes a new theoretical perspective on positive emotions and situates this new perspective within the emerging field of positive psychology. The broaden-and-build theory posits that experiences of positive emotions broaden people's momentary thought-action repertoires, which in turn serves to build their enduring personal resources, ranging from physical and intellectual resources to social and psychological resources. Preliminary empirical evidence supporting the broaden-and-build theory is reviewed, and open empirical questions that remain to be tested are identified. The theory and findings suggest that the capacity to experience positive emotions may be a fundamental human strength central to the study of human flourishing.
In this article, the author describes a new theoretical perspective on positive emotions and situates this new perspective within the emerging field of positive psychology. The broaden-and-build theory posits that experiences of positive emotions broaden people's momentary thought-action repertoires, which in turn serves to build their enduring personal resources, ranging from physical and intellectual resources to social and psychological resources. Preliminary empirical evidence supporting the broaden-and-build theory is reviewed, and open empirical questions that remain to be tested are identified. The theory and findings suggest that the capacity to experience positive emotions may be a fundamental human strength central to the study of human flourishing.
This article conceptualizes the emotional labor construct in terms of four dimensions: frequency of appropriate emotional display, attentiveness to required display rules, variety of emotions to be displayed, and emotional dissonance generated by having to express organizationally desired emotions not genuinely felt. Through this framework, the article then presents a series of propositions about the organizational-, job-, and individual-level characteristics that are antecedents of each of these four dimensions. Frequency of emotional display, attentiveness to display rules, variety of emotions to be displayed, and emotional dissonance are hypothesized to lead to greater emotional exhaustion, but only emotional dissonance is hypothesized to lead to lower job satisfaction. Implications for future theory development and empirical research on emotional labor are discussed as well.
In thle atudy 01 the eRects 01 aeIf-talk on dart throwing pelformance, lubJects (N = 60) were randomly BIIIgned to positive, negatfve, or control conditions then completed 15 expertmental dart throws. Resulle IncIcated that posftIve 18K-talk subJects per fonned slgnlllcantly better (p < .05) than negative self-talk Itb)ectl on the dart throw Ing task. Negative eel-talc lubfecle reported that they expected to Improve signifi cantly more on a future dart throwing _than did poaItJve 8eIf-ta1k and control con dition 8Ubfecta. Dans celie 6tude de Mnfluence de la verbalaaUon du clSCOUfS Interne eur Ia pelfor mance du lancer de f!echetl8I, leI luJets (N • 80) sont al6atolrement repartle en groupetl lllangage posIIIf, negatI, ou groupe t4lmoln. Toullel suJels effectuent 15 lancers de fIechette8. Lee rMultatl IndIquent one luperlortt6 statlstlque (p < .05) sup6rleure de Ia pelformance parmlle8 eujeIs ayant one verbahatton Interne posi tive, par rapport aUll luJets ayant una verballsatfon Interne negative. En comparant Ie groupe II verbaReatlon posftIve, Ie groupe t6m0In, at Ie groupe II verbaltsatlon nega tive, on remarque que leI sujete dans ce demler groupe exprlment pIue souvent que ceux dans lea deux autrel groupel un dealr d'am6llorer dans Ie cas d'une r6p6tHlon future du lancer.