Nogueira José Miguel, Morais Catarina, Mansell Paul, Gomes A Rui
School of Psychology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal.
Faculty of Education and Psychology, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Porto, Portugal.
Front Sports Act Living. 2025 Jul 30;7:1636826. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2025.1636826. eCollection 2025.
Understanding athletes' emotional experience prior to competition is crucial for examining their adaptation to stress. Earlier research suggested anxiety impaired performance by disrupting tasks like information processing, attention, and concentration-leading to increased stress and perceived threat. Over time, focus shifted toward understanding how athletes' interpretations of anxiety could influence performance positively. This led to broader research into other emotions typically considered "negative" (e.g., anger, dejection) and "positive" (e.g., excitement, happiness). However, how these emotions influence performance and interact with intensity has been under-studied.
A total of 383 elite athletes completed a questionnaire 24-48 h before a major competition, assessing overall stress, emotional intensity (excitement, happiness, anxiety, anger, dejection), emotional direction, cognitive appraisal, and coping strategies.
A cluster analysis based on emotion intensity and direction identified three athlete profiles: "Emotionally Balanced" (moderate intensity), "Facilitating Arousal Profile" (mixed intensity, all emotions viewed as performance-enhancing), and "Low Arousal Profile" (low emotional intensity). Despite differing emotional profiles, athletes reported similar stress levels before competition. However, those in the "Facilitating Arousal Profile" reported greater challenge appraisals, perceived control, and use of adaptive coping strategies compared to others.
These findings suggest that not just emotional intensity but also the perceived impact of emotions plays a key role in performance. These results have important implications for psychological interventions, emphasizing the need to consider both how emotions are experienced and how they are interpreted in the context of competition.
了解运动员在比赛前的情绪体验对于考察他们对压力的适应能力至关重要。早期研究表明，焦虑会干扰信息处理、注意力和专注力等任务，从而损害表现，导致压力增加和感知到的威胁。随着时间的推移，研究重点转向理解运动员对焦虑的解读如何能够对表现产生积极影响。这引发了对其他通常被视为“负面”（如愤怒、沮丧）和“正面”（如兴奋、快乐）情绪的更广泛研究。然而，这些情绪如何影响表现以及与强度如何相互作用一直未得到充分研究。
共有383名精英运动员在一项重大比赛前24至48小时完成了一份问卷，评估总体压力、情绪强度（兴奋、快乐、焦虑、愤怒、沮丧）、情绪方向、认知评估和应对策略。
基于情绪强度和方向的聚类分析确定了三种运动员类型：“情绪平衡型”（中等强度）、“促进唤醒型”（混合强度，所有情绪都被视为有助于提高表现）和“低唤醒型”（低情绪强度）。尽管情绪类型不同，但运动员在比赛前报告的压力水平相似。然而，与其他类型相比，“促进唤醒型”的运动员报告了更高的挑战评估、感知到的控制感以及使用适应性应对策略的情况。
这些发现表明，不仅情绪强度，而且情绪的感知影响在表现中也起着关键作用。这些结果对心理干预具有重要意义，强调在比赛背景下需要同时考虑情绪的体验方式和解读方式。
