The purpose of the study was to assess if athletes who perceived their anxiety as debilitative to performance also scored higher on ratings of coping styles used to handle trait shame. The sample was comprised of 94 participants (males = 44, females = 50) ranging in age from 13 to 24 years (M=18.8, SD = 23). Athletes in high school (n = 21) and college (n = 73) representing several sports were surveyed for this study. Competitive sport experience averaged 11 yr. (SD = 3.9) overall. The Competitive Trait Anxiety Inventory–2D was given to collect general anxiety perceptions related to the athlete's specific sport. The Compass of Shame Scale-Sport was administered to measure coping styles for trait shame responses connected with competitive sport experiences. The athletes were divided into Facilitative (n = 39) and Debilitative anxiety groups (n=55) based on the overall direction of anxiety scores. Multivariate analysis of variance indicated no interaction, but did reveal significant main effects for sex and anxiety group. Univariate tests indicated significant differences for several of the shame and anxiety subscales based on sex and anxiety group.
References
1.
AlbrechtR. R.FeltzD. L. (1987) Generality and specificity of attention related to competitive anxiety and sport performance. Journal of Sport Psychology, 9, 231–248.
2.
BorgI.StaufenbielT.SchererK. R. (1988) On the symbolic nature of shame. In SchererK. R. (Ed.), Facets of emotion: recent research. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Pp. 79–98.
3.
BurtonD. (1988) Do anxious swimmers swim slower? Reexamining the elusive anxiety-performance relationship. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 10, 45–61.
4.
CampbellJ. S.ElisonJ. (2005) Shame coping styles and psychopathic personality traits. Journal of Personality Assessment, 84, 96–104.
5.
ConroyD. E. (2001) Progress in the development of a multidimensional measure of fear of failure: the Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory (PFAI). Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 14,431–452.
6.
ConroyD. E. (2004) The unique meaning of multidimensional fears of failing. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 26, 484–491.
7.
ConroyD. E.CoatsworthJ. D.KayeM. P. (2007) Consistency of fear of failure score meanings among 8- to 18-year-old female athletes. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 67, 300–310.
8.
ConroyD. E.PoczwardowskiA.HenschenK. P. (2001) Evaluative criteria and consequences associated with failure and success for elite athletes and performing artists. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 13, 300–322.
9.
ConroyD. E.WillowJ. P.MetzlerJ. N. (2002) Multidimensional fear of failure measurement: the performance failure appraisal. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 14, 76–90.
10.
DickersonS. S.GruenwaldT. L.KemenyM. E. (2004) When the social self is threatened: shame, physiology, and health. Journal of Personality, 72, 1191–1216.
11.
ElisonJ. (2005) Shame and guilt: a hundred years of apples and oranges. New Ideas in Psychology, 23, 5–32.
12.
ElisonJ.LennonR.PulosS. (2006) Investigating the compass of shame: the development of the Compass of Shame Scale. Social Behavior and Personality, 34, 221–238.
13.
ElisonJ.PulosS.LennonR. (2006) Shame-focused coping: an empirical study of the compass of shame. Social Behavior and Personality, 34, 161–168.
14.
FischerK. W.TangneyJ. P. (1995) Self-conscious emotions and the affect revolution: framework and overview. In TangneyJ. P.FischerK. W. (Eds.), Self-conscious emotions: the psychology of shame, guilt, embarrassment, and pride. New York: Guilford. Pp. 3–22.
15.
GilbertP. (1993) Defense and safety: their function in social behavior and psychopathology. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 32, 131–154.
16.
GilbertP. (1998) What is shame? Some core issues and controversies. In GilbertP. (Ed.), Shame: interpersonal behavior, psychopathology, and culture. New York: Oxford Univer. Press. Pp. 3–38.
17.
GilbertP.McGuireM. T. (1998) Shame, status, and social roles: psychobiology and evolution. In GilbertP. (Ed.), Shame: interpersonal behavior, psychopathology, and culture. New York: Oxford Univer. Press. Pp. 99–125.
18.
HantonS.JonesG. (1999) The effects of a multimodal intervention program on performers: II. Training the butterflies to fly in formation. The Sport Psychologist, 13, 22–41.
19.
HantonS.ThomasO.MaynardI. (2004) Competitive anxiety responses in the week leading up to competition: the role of intensity, direction and frequency dimensions. Journal of Sport and Exercise, 5, 169–181.
20.
JonesG.HantonS. (1996) Interpretation of competitive anxiety symptoms and goal attainment expectancies. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 18, 144–157.
21.
JonesG.SwainA. (1992) Intensity and direction as dimensions of competitive state anxiety and relationships with competitiveness. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 74, 467–472.
22.
JonesG.SwainA. (1995) Predispositions to experience debilitative and facilitative anxiety in elite and non-elite performers. The Sport Psychologist, 9, 201–211.
23.
KatzJ. (1999) How emotions work. Chicago, IL: The Univer. of Chicago Press.
24.
LeemingD.BoyleM. (2004) Shame as a social phenomenon: a critical analysis of the concept of dispositional shame. Psychology and Psychotherapy, Research and Practice, 77, 375–396.
25.
MartensR.BurtonD.VealeyR. S.BumpL. A.SmithD. E. (1990) Development and validation of the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory–2 (CSAI–2). In MartensR.VealeyR. S.BurtonD. (Eds.), Competitive anxiety in sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Pp. 117–213.
26.
MosherD. L.TomkinsS. S. (1988) Scripting the macho man: hypermasculine socialization and enculturation. Journal of Sex Research, 25, 60–84.
27.
NathansonD. L. (1992) Shame and pride. New York: Norton.
28.
PartridgeJ. A.ElisonJ. (2008) Development of a sport-specific shame coping scale. (Unpublished manuscript, Southern Illinois Univer.Carbondale).
29.
PerryJ. D.WilliamsJ. M. (1998) Relationship of intensity and direction of competitive trait anxiety to skill level and gender in tennis. The Sport Psychologist, 12, 169–179.
30.
ShavelsonR. J. (1988) Statistical reasoning for the behavioral sciences. (2nd ed.) Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
31.
TangneyJ. P.DearingR. L. (2002) Shame and guilt. New York: Guilford.
32.
TangneyJ. P.MillerR. S.FlickerL.BarlowD. B. (1996) Are shame, guilt, and embarrassment distinct emotions?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 1256–1269.
33.
TomkinsS. S. (1963) Affect/imagery/consciousness. Vol. 2. New York: Springer.
34.
WigginsM. S. (1998) Anxiety intensity and direction: preperformance temporal patterns and expectations in athletes. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 10, 201–211.
35.
WigginsM. S.FreemanP. (2000) Anxiety and flow: an examination of anxiety direction and the flow experience. International Sports Journal, 4, 78–87.
36.
WigginsM. S.LaiC.DeitersJ. A. (2005) Anxiety and burnout in female college ice hockey and soccer athletes. Psychological Reports, 101, 519–524.
37.
YelsmaP.BrownN. M.ElisonJ. (2002) Shame-focused coping styles and their associations with self-esteem. Psychological Reports, 90, 1179–1189.
