The International Journal of Indian Psychology
ISSN 2349-3429 (e) | ISSN: 2349-3429 (p)
Volume 2, Special Issue, Paper ID: IJIPS20150208
http://www.ijip.in | February 2015
The Influence of Cognitive Anxiety on Sport Performance
among Taekwondo Athletes
Vincent Parnabas1, Julinamary Parnabas2, Antoinette Mary Parnabas3
ABSTRACT:
Sports psychologists have long believed that high levels of cognitive anxiety during competition
are harmful, worsening performance and even leading to dropout. The instrument used for the
study comprised of a 27-item Competitive State Anxiety Inventory–2 and The Psychological
Performance Inventory which had been distributed during sport between universities
competition. The sample consisted of 78 Taekwondo players, including the national athletes
(N=22), state athletes (N=23), district athletes (N=18) and university athletes (N= 15).The results
showed that elite or national Taekwondo athletes exhibited lower levels of cognitive anxiety, F
(3, 78) = 14.232, p < .01. The result also showed that the exits of negative correlation between
cognitive anxiety and sport performance among Taekwondo players, (r = -0.71; p<0.05). Sport
psychologists, sport counselors and coaches should use the present findings to recommend
coping strategies to university and district level athletes that are appropriate for dealing with their
athletes’ cognitive anxiety.
Keywords: Cognitive, Sport Performance, Skill of players.
INTRODUCTION:
Anxiety, as a negative emotional, affect perceptions in sport competitions, where a large majority
of athletes consider anxiety to be debilitative towards performance, which may result in
decreases in performance (Weinberg & Gould, 2011; Raglin & Hanin, 2000). Many researches
showed that winning in a competition depend on how an athlete can control their anxiety level
(Humara, 2001). Anxiety consists of two subcomponents: cognitive and somatic anxiety, which
influence performance (Jarvis, 2002; Martens, Vealey & Burton, 1990). The cognitive is the
mental component, which characterized by negative expectations about success or self-
evaluation, negative self-talk, worries about performance, images of failure, inability to
concentrate, and disrupted attention (Jarvis 2002; Martens, Vealey & Burton, 1990).
1
Sport Science and Recreation Faculty, University of MARA Technology (UiTM), Shah Alam,
Malaysia.
2
Institut Pendidikan Guru, Kampus Darulaman, Jitra, Kedah, Malaysia.
3
Medical Unit, Hospital Taiping, Taiping, Perak, Malaysia.
© 2015 I V Parnabas, J Parnabas, A Parnabas; licensee IJIP. This is an Open Access Research distributed under the
terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any Medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
The Influence of Cognitive Anxiety on Sport Performance among Taekwondo Athletes
Contradictory, the somatic is the physiological element, which related to autonomic arousals,
negative symptoms such as feelings of nervous, high blood pressure, dry throat, muscular
tension, rapid heart rate, sweaty palms and butterflies in your stomach (Jarvis, 2002; Jones, 2000;
Martens, Vealey & Burton, 1990).
Researchers have reported that over 50 of consultations among athletes at an Olympic festival
were related to stress or anxiety problems (Murphy, 1988). According to Hann (2000) high levels
of anxiety during competition are harmful, worsening performance and even leading to dropout.
Therefore, it’s very important to know the level of anxiety especially the cognitive anxiety in
order to take all necessary preparation to reduce it.
Catastrophe Model well described the relationship between cognitive anxiety and sport
performance (Cox, 2012; Weinberg & Gould, 2011; Ampofo-Boateng, 2009). According to this
theory, an achievement of best sport performance results can obtain only when there is low level
of cognitive anxiety. Once an athlete experience high level of cognitive anxiety as in a situation
where an athlete is worrying and it combines with increase of arousal beyond and optimal level,
there will be a quick or catastrophic decrease in performance. However, since there is lack
research, there has been very poor research support for the catastrophe model (Ampofo-Boateng,
2009).
Recent investigation found that male and female athletes suffering stresses resulted pressure to
win, excessive anxiety, frustration conflict, irritation and fear, which significantly affected their
mental or emotional health (Humphrey, Yow & Bow 2000). Heavy playing schedules,
competition for team places, the media and fans as well as the pressure to win trophies all play a
part in players developing high stress and anxiety levels (Heather, 2010), especially the level of
cognitive anxiety. However, since lack of research on cognitive anxiety and its effect on
performances, sport psychologists still failed to determine the relationship among those
variables. Moreover, most of the previous research, focused on elite athletes, while ignoring less
successful athletes. This was confirmed by Krane (1995) that research on competitive anxiety
mainly focused on elite athletes. The extant literature also shows that there is a limited research
comparing on cognitive anxiety among Taekwondo athletes of state, district and university level.
The main purpose of this study was to examine the levels of cognitive anxiety among
Taekwondo players of different skill. The present study aim to determine the level of cognitive
anxiety and its effect on performances between Taekwondo players of national, state, district and
university level. In other words, this research sought to correlate the relationship between
somatic anxiety and performance.
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The Influence of Cognitive Anxiety on Sport Performance among Taekwondo Athletes
METHODS
The participants of this study were recruited from sport between universities. The instrument
used for the study comprised of a 27-item Competitive State Anxiety Inventory–2 (CSAI-2) and
42-item The Psychological Performance Inventory, which had been distributed during sport
between universities. The Psychological Performance Inventory asses seven factor of
performance: Self Confident, Negative Energy, Attention Control, Visualization and Imagery,
Motivation, Positive Energy Control and Attitude Control.
The sample consisted of 78 Taekwondo athletes, including the national athletes (N=22), state
athletes (N=23), district athletes (N=18) and university athletes (N= 15).
RESULT
Respondents’ Profile
The respondents’ profile described their ranking, ethnic and age. Table 1 shows the overall
results of the respondents’ profile for 78 Taekwondo athletes. The overall mean age for these
respondents was 22.70 years old. The age of male respondents varied from 18 to 27 years, where
the mean age was 23.47 years old. The age of female players ranged from the minimum of 18 to
the maximum of 25 years old. The mean age for female respondents was 22.26 years old.
The variable “rank which is gathered through this study is categorized into four levels namely,
national, state, district and university. The result showed that 22 respondents had participated at
national, whilst 23 respondents participate at state, 18 had participated at district and 15
respondents participated at the university level. Majority of the respondents, were
undergraduates for Degree (n=56) and Diploma (n=22) programmes.
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The Influence of Cognitive Anxiety on Sport Performance among Taekwondo Athletes
Table 1: Respondents’ Profile (n=78)
Variables Frequency Percentage Mean SD
Athletes according to
rank
National 22 28.20
State 23 29.49
District 18 23.08
University 15 19.23
Programme
Diploma 22 28.21
Degree 56 71.79
Age
Male 23.47 2.45
Female 22.26 2.00
Overall 22.70 1.89
Cronbach Reliability Coefficients
In this study, Cronbach alpha coefficients were found relatively high, ranging from .83 to .85
(Table 2).
Table 2: Cronbach Reliability Coefficients
Questionnaire Cronbach’s Alpha (n=78)
Cognitive Anxiety .8337
Sports Performance .8544
Level of Cognitive Anxiety
Table 3 shows the mean scores for the cognitive anxiety among Taekwondo athletes of different
skills, F (3, 78) = 14.232, p < .01. Apparently, significant differences emerged for the athletes
having different skills at competition. Overall, the mean score obtained for the national athletes
was lower than those in other categories.
Table 3: Level of Cognitive Anxiety among Taekwondo Players
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The Influence of Cognitive Anxiety on Sport Performance among Taekwondo Athletes
Skills of Athletes Mean F-Value P-Value
National 12.5174
State 14.0027
14.232** 0.000
District 17.3402
University 19.1142
** p=.01
Post-Hoc Tukey Test (Table 4) showed that the level of cognitive anxiety of university were
higher than district (p=.05), state (p=.05) and national (p=.05) level athletes. Furthermore, the
level of cognitive anxiety of district were higher than state (p=.05) and national (p=.05), but
lower than university level athletes (p=.05). In addition, the level of cognitive anxiety of state
were higher than national (p=0.05), but lower than district (p=.05) and university (p=.05) level
athletes. Lastly, the level of cognitive anxiety of national were lower than state (p=.05), district
(p=.05) and university level athletes (p=.05).
Table 4: Post Hoc Tukey Test: Level of Cognitive Anxiety among Taekwondo Players
Skill of Athletes National State Distict University N
National * (1.3408) * (1.6712) * (1.8907) 22
State 23
District 18
University 15
*p=.05
Level of Sport Performance
Table 5 shows the mean scores for the sport performance among the Taekwondo athletes of
different skills, F (3, 78) = 17.221, p < .01. Apparently, significant differences emerged for the
athletes having different skills at competition. Overall, the mean score obtained for the national
athletes was higher than those in other categories.
Table 5: Level of Sport Performance among Taekwondo Players
Skills of Athletes Mean F-Value P-Value
National 21.8120
State 19.4191
17.221** 0.000
District 16.0372
University 14.1104
** p=.01
Post-Hoc Tukey Test (Table 6) showed that the level of sport performance of national were
higher than district (p=.05), state (p=.05) and university (p=.05) level athletes. Furthermore, the
level of sport performance state Taekwondo players were higher than district (p=.05) and
university (p=.05), but lower than national level athletes (p=.05). In addition, the level of sport
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The Influence of Cognitive Anxiety on Sport Performance among Taekwondo Athletes
performance of district were higher than university (p=0.05), but lower than national (p=.05) and
state (p=.05) level athletes. Lastly, the level of sport performance of university were lower than
state (p=.05), district (p=.05) and national level athletes (p=.05).
Table 6: Post Hoc Tukey Test: Level of Sport Performance among Taekwondo Players
Skill of National State Distict University N
Athletes
National * (1.2109) * (1.7091) * (1.8921) 22
State 23
District 18
University 15
*p=.05
Correlation of Cognitive Anxiety and Sport Performance
The correlation coefficient of -0.71 was noted between the level of cognitive anxiety and sport
performance in the evaluation of 78 Taekwondo players, which is significant (P < .05). In other
words, the negative relationship existing between these variables is statistically significant (Table
7). Negative correlation indicates that either variables increase or decrease contradictory.
Table 7: The Relationship between the Level of Cognitive Anxiety and Sport Performance
Subject Sport Performance
The Level of Cognitive -0.71**
Anxiety (0.000)
* * p=.05
DISCUSSION
Level of Cognitive Anxiety
The result showed that Taekwondo players of university level exhibited higher cognitive anxiety
level than those in state and district categories, whereas national athletes showed the lowest level
of cognitive anxiety. In Malaysia, no research involving the four categories of skills has been
conducted so far, therefore this research has failed to compare these with the findings of previous
research. However, according to Drive theory, the present of audience for low skilled athletes,
during the sport competition could increase their cognitive anxiety. Cognitive anxiety is the
extent to which an athlete worries or had negative thoughts, and the negative thoughts may
include fear of failure, loss of self-esteem and self-confidence. It could lead to the poor
performance of an athlete in competition. It may start before a competition in the form of pre-
competitive anxiety that might affect performance throughout the competition. Elite athletes like
national and state level, who have learned anxiety management skills, often respond to a greater
degree to cognitive anxiety but return to their resting rate sooner than those athletes, who are not
trained in anxiety management like district and university level. At the interview session with the
football athletes it was found that most of the national athletes using coping strategies like
positive self talk, thought stopping, relaxation techniques and imagery to reduce their cognitive
anxiety level. In the other hand, most of the low skill athletes like district and university level
unaware and not practicing of these techniques. Therefore, the level of cognitive anxiety of
district and university level athletes was very high.
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The Influence of Cognitive Anxiety on Sport Performance among Taekwondo Athletes
Level of Sport Performance
The result showed that national Taekwondo athletes obtain the highest sport performance
compared state, district and university skill athletes. The main reason national athletes perform
better than other skill athletes because most of them use coping strategies to reduce their
cognitive anxiety. High level of cognitive anxiety is the barrier for high performances in sport.
The result showed that district and university skill Taekwondo athletes experienced highest level
of cognitive anxiety, therefore their sport performances has been drop. Many research proved
that high level of cognitive anxiety has been the barrier to deteriorate performance in sport.
Level of Cognitive Anxiety and Sport Performance
The result revealed there exists of negative correlation between cognitive anxiety and sport
performance. It means the higher the level of cognitive anxiety experience by Taekwondo
athletes, the lower sport performance level. The relationship between cognitive anxiety and
performance was explained best in Multidimensional Anxiety Theory. This theory explains that
cognitive anxiety effect performance. The relationship between cognitive anxiety, where an
athlete experiences worries, negative thoughts and fear of failure, will effect the performance
(Ampofo-Boateng, 2009).
CONCLUSION
The findings of the research determined that there are differences in the level of cognitive
anxiety, showed by different categories of Taekwondo athletes. These differences were related to
their level of skill. The results showed that elite or national Taekwondo athletes exhibited lower
levels of cognitive anxiety than non-elite athletes. Low cognitive anxiety levels are very
important in high sport performance. This study also showed that exist of negative correlation
between cognitive anxiety and performance. Sport psychologists, sport counselors and coaches
should use the present findings to recommend coping strategies to university and district level
athletes that are appropriate for dealing with their athletes’ cognitive anxiety.
Future research should identify the most prevalent sources of cognitive anxiety among different
skill of Taekwondo athletes. Initial evidence suggest among the sources of anxiety are fear of
injury, presence of audience, past unpleasant experiences, fear of lose, negative evaluation,
knowledge of the opposition team, uncertainty, playing at the opposition’s place, high hope, and
perceived sport events as very important. Seeking sources of cognitive anxiety should be a great
value to reduce the level of anxiety. Furthermore, types of coping strategies can be used to
reduce the level of cognitive anxiety among athletes much depend on the sources of anxiety.
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The Influence of Cognitive Anxiety on Sport Performance among Taekwondo Athletes
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