INTERPRETATION OF COMPETITIVE TRAIT ANXIETY SYMPTOMS AS A FUNCTION OFLOCUS OF CONTROL BELIEFS

This study investigated differences in the cognitive labelling of comp etitive anxiety symptoms generally experienced prior to an important c ompetition as a function of locus of control beliefs. Eighty three uni versity and county sport performers including 45 males and 38 females, responded to the modified Competitive Trait Anxiety Inventory-2 (Jone s & Swain, 1935) which measures the intensity of pre-competition anxie ty symptoms generally experienced as well as how they are generally in terpreted on a debilitative-facilitative continuum. The performers als o responded to the Internal-External Locus of Control Scale (Rotter, 1 966). The results showed that although there were no significant diffe rences between those having an internal and those having an external l ocus of control on the intensity of their cognitive and somatic anxiet y symptoms, the internals viewed their trait anxiety as significantly more facilitative and less debilitative than the externals. Discrimina nt function analysis corroborated these findings by showing that the b est predictors for distinguishing between the two locus of control gro ups were the direction scores for cognitive and somatic trait anxiety. The results of the present study provide support for the need to asse ss the direction as well as the intensity of competitive trait anxiety . Furthermore, they corroborate findings of other studies which have s hown that internal locus of control is associated with more adaptive e motional responses in sport.