Cognitions and emotions experienced under pressure: A self-presentation and challenge/threat perspective

An experiment was conducted to investigate the cognitions and emotions athletes experience in pressure situations. Athlete participants were asked to read either a low self-presentation script, which de-emphasized self-presentation concerns, or a high self-presentation script, which emphasized self-presentation concerns. All participants were then asked to complete measures of cognitive appraisal, associated variables (i.e., self-efficacy, perceived control, and approach/avoidance goal focus), emotion, and the perception of emotion. Participants who read the low self-presentation script reported more of a challenge state of cognitive appraisal, higher self-efficacy, lower avoidance goal focus, and more positive emotion. Participants who read the high self-presentation script experienced more of a threat state of cognitive appraisal and reported more negative emotion. Non-significant differences were found for the perception of emotion, although participants who read the low self-presentation script did perceive positive emotion as comparatively more facilitative to performance and negative emotion as comparatively more debilitative to performance. The results give support to the notion that self-presentation concerns play an important role in explaining performance under pressure. It is suggested that self-presentation imperatives, cognitive appraisal, and emotion should all be included in models which seek to explain the experience and performance of athletes in pressure situations.