THE COGNITIVE COMPONENT OF COMPETITIVE STATE ANXIETY IN SEMI PROFESSIONAL SOCCER: A CASE STUDY
D. PEARS
Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Bedfordshire, Luton, England
Keywords: Competitive state anxiety, cognition, soccer, exercise
Abstract
Competitive state anxiety may influence performance. The cognitive component of competitive state anxiety was assessed qualitatively in the present study, in a case of semi professional soccer player. Data was collected by means of a five stage method interview. Inductive content analysis was employed to categorise and analyse the emergent themes. The participant perceived some cognition as positive and facilitative and other cognition as negative and debilitative. He has developed coping strategies to turn the latter to positive cognition. The analysis revealed six distinctive phases about his thought patterns in proximity to a match, with no relation to the intensity of these thoughts.
