CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN ACTUAL AND RECALLED PRECOMPETITION ANXIETY IN COLLEGIATE TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETES

The ability of athletes to accurately recall precompetition anxiety wa s tested in members of a collegiate track and field program. In Experi ment 1, 34 athletes completed the state portion of the State-Trait Anx iety Inventory (STAI) 1 hour before a competition and again 2 days lat er. Actual and recalled precompetition anxiety were significantly (p < .01) correlated for the men (r = .96) and women (r = .97) athletes. A ccuracy in recalling anxiety was comparable for athletes with above (r = .96) and below (r = .97) average self-ratings of performance. For E xperiment 2, the procedure was repeated with 11 other athletes. In thi s case the STAI items were rearranged on the second form. Again, recal led and actual precompetition anxiety were highly correlated (r = .96, p < .01). It is concluded that athletes can accurately recall precomp etition anxiety 2 days following competition. With further validation this method may be used in place of actual precompetition anxiety meas urements.