Competitive state anxiety and performance among Malaysian athletes from the view of multidimensional anxiety theory / Vincent A. Parnabas, Yahaya Mahamood and Kwame Ampofo-Boateng

The Multidimensional Anxiety theory examines the relationship between anxiety and
performance. It is the first theory that explains that both cognitive and somatic components play
an important role on performance. Cognitive anxiety is the mental component of anxiety and
somatic anxiety refers to a person’s perceived changes in her or his physiological. The theory
hypothesizes a powerful negative linear relationship between cognitive state anxiety and
performance and a less powerful, inverted U relationship between somatic anxiety and
performance. The theory states that the increases of cognitive and somatic anxiety will
deteriorate an athlete’s performance. However, previous research had showed inconsistent
results. Therefore, this research examines the effect of cognitive and somatic anxiety on
performance among Malaysian athletes. The sample consisted of 902 athletes, consisting of
national (N=53), state (N=395), district (N=120), university (N=211), and school athletes (N=
123). The sample was drawn from among athletes who competed in three big sport events of
Malaysia, MASUM (Universities Sports Competition), MSSM (Schools Sport Competition) and
Sukan Olimpik Muda (Young Olympic Athletes Competition).The instrument used for the study
comprised of a 27-item Competitive State Anxiety Inventory–2, consisting of cognitive and
somatic component. The result has received support from the Multidimensional Anxiety theory,
that the increased level of cognitive and somatic anxiety deteriorated athletes’ performance.
Coaches, sport psychologists and counsellors can use this research to reduce the cognitive and
somatic anxiety to increase athletes’ performance.