Intense emotions tend to accompany performing under pressure. Studies show emotions predict performance in sport
(see Beedie, Terry, & Lane, 2000), educational settings (Lane, Whyte, Terry, & Nevill, 2005; Thelwell, Lane, Weston, &
Greenlees, 2007) and business settings. Starting with sport, a key question is what mood states or emotional states do
athletes experience before, during and after competition? The answer to this question is dependent on many factors.
Emotional states are triggered every time an athlete thinks about an impending contest. The pre-competition period is
riddled with attempts to control the build-up of emotions; and people experience a range of different emotions. Some
successful athletes feel excited and nervous; other athletes feel the same emotions but feel angry also. Unsuccessful
athletes can also feel nervous, but these athletes tend also to feel saddened by anticipated expectations of failure. Most
athletes have ways to control emotions; some athletes engage in positive self-talk, some try to sleep, others listen to
music, or become talkative, while others become reclusive. In most cases, people learn to cope through experience.
They learn through trial and error and by observing experienced performers cope successfully.
Emotions are pervasive across all aspects of life. However, for most people, situations such as an interview, an
examination, a competition, a public performance, and other aspects of daily life are fuelled with factors that can illicit
intense emotions. Consider a different example to further illustrate this point. A candidate is sitting in the waiting room
before an important interview for job that she/he desperately wants. When he/she thinks about the interview, she/he
becomes nervous and starts to feel hot and begins to sweat, which in turn, makes him/her feel more nervous. If we ask
the same question we posed in the sport example, when do people start to become emotional before the interview?
The answer is likely to share many characteristics as those described in the sport example. When we compare
emotions experienced before an interview with those described before sport, we see that a similar pattern of emotions
and coping strategies, and this is a phenomenon we have observed in our research (Lane et al., 2005). What should be
clear is that mood states are intense before all tasks that are perceived to be of personal importance.
Given the intense emotions and mood states experienced in preparation and performance in important situations, it
should not be surprising that consultants devote a great deal of time to enable performers to cope better. Whilst a
wealth of anecdotal evidence exists on the proposed influence of moods and emotions on performance, arguably the
most fruitful way to develop better intervention strategies is through the availability of a sound knowledge base founded
on theory and research.
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- Understanding the process is important
- Emotional control produces success?
Winning LaneLtd