The relationship among personality, cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety, physiological arousal, and performance in male athletes
Open accessAbstract
The present study examined the association between personality, competitive anxiety, somatic anxiety and physiological arousal in athletes with high and low anxiety levels. Anxiety was manipulated by means of an incentive. Fifty male participants, first, completed the Five Factor Personality Inventory and their resting electro dermal activity (EDA) was recorded. In the second stage, participants were randomly assigned to high or low anxiety groups. Individual EDAs were recorded again to determine precompetition physiological arousal. Participants also completed the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) and played a computer-simulated soccer match. Results showed that neuroticism was related to both CSAI-2 components and physiological arousal only in the group receiving the incentive. Winners had higher levels of cognitive anxiety and lower levels of physiological arousal than losers. On the basis of these findings, we concluded that an athlete’s neurotic personality may influence his cognitive and physiological responses in a competition.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Cognitive anxiety detracts from athletic performance, establishing a negative correlation between the two.
“Theoretical perspectives such as catastrophe theory (Balyan et al., 2016) and theories of attention (Wine, 1971) further support the view that cognitive anxiety detracts from athletic performance, establishing a negative correlation between the two.”
From Mindfulness and self-rated performance among novice athletes in China: a sequential mediating role of flow and cognitive anxiety (2025) · cites this paper as Balyan et al., 2016
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Sport-related anxiety: Current insights.
Ford, J., Ildefonso, K., Jones, M., & Arvinen-Barrow, M. (2017) · Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine · doi:10.2147/oajsm.s125845 · Cited by 231 · see citing works
The influence of the five-factor model of personality on performance in competitive sports: a review
Shuai, Y., Wang, S., Liu, X., Kueh, Y. C., & Kuan, G. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1284378 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
“…may play a role in health outcomes, such as obesity and longevity, particularly during more challenging activities that demand cardiorespiratory fitness Balyan et al. (2016) This research examined the relationship among personality traits, anxiety levels, and physiological responses in athletes.”
BackgroundTrigueros, R., Aguilar-Parra, J. M., Hernández, J. Á., Gonzalez-Bernal, J. J., & López‐Liria, R. (2019) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph16214192 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
“At the athletic level, and specifically during competition, there are aspects of sports that coincide with certain comparative and evaluative elements, which can easily be identified as adverse and challenging [23].”
BackgroundResilient Resources in Youth Athletes and Their Relationship with Anxiety in Different Team Sports
Hernández, J. G., Gomariz-Gea, M., Valenzuela, A. V., et al. (2020) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph17155569 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
“In this sense, the study of anxiety has been one of the most prolific lines of research, due to the emotional responses it provokes and that can affect athletes’ performance [7].”
BackgroundLiang, D., Chen, S., Zhang, W., Xu, K., Li, Y., Li, D., Cheng, H., Xiao, J., Wan, L., & Liu, C. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.617541 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Marshall, E. A., & Gibson, A.-M. (2017) · Journal of Imagery Research in Sport and Physical Activity · doi:10.1515/jirspa-2016-0009 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
“A recent study concluded that the direction of anxiety in male athletes was determined by external incentive and their personality (Balyan et al., 2016).”
BackgroundSánchez, M. C., Ortega, F. Z., Ubago-Jiménez, J. L., González-Valero, G., García-Mármol, E., & Cuberos, R. C. (2019) · Sports · doi:10.3390/sports7020034 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
“This is explained by their interest in achieving professional levels of sport practice in order to increase economic rewards and social recognition [66,68].”
BackgroundNooripour, R., Hoseinian, S., Vakili, Y., Ghanbari, N., Matacotta, J. J., Mozaffari, N., Ilanloo, H., & Lavie, C. J. (2022) · BMC Psychology · doi:10.1186/s40359-022-00852-2 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
“Therefore, looking at aggression is one of the most fruitful researches due to the emotional responses, which can affect the performance of athletes [19].”
BackgroundMarín-González, F. H., Portela-Pino, I., García, J. P. F., et al. (2022) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph19137791 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
“Other studies have also demonstrated the relationship between the anxiety symptoms subscales of the competitive state (cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety, and self-confidence), and it seems that elite athletes can manage and interpret these anxiety symptoms well [58].”
BackgroundPiepiora, P. A., Čaplová, P., Zimoń, P., et al. (2024) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1428107 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Morales‐Sánchez, V., Caballero-Cerbán, M., Postigo-Martín, C., Morillo-Baro, J. P., Hernández-Mendo, A., & Reigal, R. E. (2022) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su142315673 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Gan, Y., Wang, R., Wang, X., Li, J., & Fan, H. (2023) · International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching · doi:10.1177/17479541231159171 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Hidalgo-Muñoz, A. R., Mouratille, D., Yagoubi, R. E., Rouillard, Y., Matton, N., & Causse, M. (2021) · Safety · doi:10.3390/safety7020049 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
“has b en utilized in different research wo ks dealing with personality traits, [34,35].”
MethodResultInfluentialCompetitive anxiety in athletes
Amaro, R., & Brandão, T. (2023) · Kinesiology · doi:10.26582/k.55.1.12 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Budnik–Przybylska, D., Huzarska, I., & Karasiewicz, K. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.893457 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“Neuroticism has negative associations with self-confidence (Matsumoto et al., 2000; Balyan et al., 2016).”
Exploring the influence of personal factors on physiological responses to mental imagery in sport
Budnik–Przybylska, D., Syty, P., Kaźmierczak, M., Łabuda, M., Doliński, Ł., Kastrau, A., Jasik, P., Przybylski, J., di Fronso, S., & Bertollo, M. (2023) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-023-29811-6 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AROUSAL ZONE, ANXIETY, STRESS AND SPORTS PERFORMANCE
Németh, K., & Balogh, L. (2021) · STADIUM - Hungarian Journal of Sport Sciences · doi:10.36439/shjs/2020/2/8603 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Dimensionality of the State–Trait Inventory of Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety
Styck, K. M., Rodriguez, M., & Yi, E. H. (2020) · Assessment (Odessa, Fla.) · doi:10.1177/1073191120953628 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“Nevertheless, researchers tend to agree that cognitive and somatic symptoms warrant individual attention (e.g., Balyan et al., 2016; Clark & Watson, 1991; Endler & Kocovski, 2001; Martyn & Brymer, 2014).”
BackgroundAhmad, W. N. W., Ghazalli, Z., & Adib, M. A. H. M. (2021) · Lecture notes in mechanical engineering · doi:10.1007/978-981-16-4115-2_30 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Relationship between Anthropometric Measures and Anxiety Perception in Soccer Players
Martínez‐Rodríguez, A., Peñaranda-Moraga, M., Vicente-Martínez, M., Martínez-Moreno, M., Cuestas-Calero, B. J., Soler-Durá, J., Sepulveda, R. A. Y., & Muñoz-Villena, A. J. (2022) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph19158898 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Sinai, Y. M., Ma, Y. J. X., Daleski, M. A., Gannot, S., Bartsch, R. P., & Gordon, I. (2024) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2024.1363891 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Coping with Stress Reactions Using Biofeedback Therapy in Elite Athletes: Case Report
Kloudova, G. (2021) · Cognitive Remediation Journal · doi:10.5507/crj.2021.003 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Irshad, M., Majeed, M., Farid, T., Basahal, A. S., Iqbal, S., & Yaqub, M. Z. (2024) · BMC Psychology · doi:10.1186/s40359-024-01961-w · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“Balyan, Tok [40] found a direct and significant impact of personality on the level and type of anxiety.”
BackgroundPeng, J., Jing, L., Wang, P., & Wang, H. (2025) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1436321 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Piepiora, P. A., Marzęta, N., Nowakowska, M., et al. (2025) · BMC Sports Science Medicine and Rehabilitation · doi:10.1186/s13102-025-01383-0 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“Moreover, neuroticism is significantly correlated with athletes’ emotional and physiological responses to anxiety, arousal, and confidence [11].”
Adaptación española del CTAI-2D. Herramienta para evaluar la ansiedad rasgo en deportistas
Muñoz-Villena, A. J., Marcos, R. D. L. V., Cremades, G., & Hernández, J. G. (2022) · Revista Internacional de Medicina y Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte · doi:10.15366/rimcafd2022.85.008 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“Respecto a las variables disposicionales, se ha relacionado con la personalidad (Balyan et al., 2016; Cerin, 2004; Olefir, 2018), salud mental (Cremades y Wiggins, 2008) y coping (Dias et al., 2011; Pinto et al., 2013; Pons et al., 2018), que se ha entendido como un protector en la interpretación…”
BackgroundVasconcelos-Raposo, J., Palumbo, J., Carvalho, A., Borges, J., & Teixeira, C. M. (2024) · doi:10.26580/pthj.art62-2024 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
López, M. G., Sánchez, S. A., & Ponce, J. F. (2020) · ESPIRAL CUADERNOS DEL PROFESORADO · doi:10.25115/ecp.v13i26.2734 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Arifin, B., Saputra, S. Y., Muzakki, A., Setiawan, E., & Jumareng, H. (2022) · Jurnal Obsesi Jurnal Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini · doi:10.31004/obsesi.v6i5.2456 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“…found that the self-confidence factor is the key for student's to achieve optimal performance in a competition and a high level of confidence is claimed to be able to overcome other psychological factors, such as anxiety, mood, worry, nervousness, or anxiety about a situation (Balyan et al., 2016).”
BackgroundResultBalsalobre, F. J. B., Montero, F. J. O., Ortega, F. Z., Suárez, A. D., & Baños, V. M. (2024) · Journal of Human Sport and Exercise · doi:10.14198/jhse.2024.191.03 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Factors Influencing Performance Appraisal Effectiveness in ODL Institutions
Khan, B. N. A., Ismail, Z., Zakariah, Z., et al. (2024) · International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences · doi:10.6007/ijarbss/v14-i5/21056 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Increasing students' mood state and self-confidence: 3 weeks plywood bow pvc archery program
Muzakki, A., Arifin, B., Saputra, S. Y., Setiawan, E., Gani, R. A., & Németh, Z. (2022) · Edu Sportivo/Edu Sportivo · doi:10.25299/es:ijope.2022.vol3(2).9761 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Nooripour, R., Hoseinian, S., Vakili, Y., Ghanbari, N., Matacotta, J. J., Mozaffari, N., Ilanloo, H., & Lavie, C. J. (2022) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-1494380/v1 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Occupational Health Problems of Violists: An Epidemiological Study
Dzierzanowski, H. R. (2024) · doi:10.12794/metadc2356154 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
taesuk, C. (2018) · The Asian Journal of Kinesiology · doi:10.15758/ajk.2018.20.4.60
Lim, K. J. Y., & Kee, K. M. (2023) · Lecture notes in bioengineering · doi:10.1007/978-981-99-2162-1_14
Effect of five sessions of imagery intervention on learning a gymnastics skill
Tripathi, A., Sharma, L., & Singh, M. (2024) · International journal of applied research · doi:10.22271/allresearch.2024.v10.i4b.11662
Erdağ, D., Sadiq, S. S., Behlül, M., & Harmancı, B. (2024) · Cyprus Turkish Journal of Psychiatry and Psychology · doi:10.35365/ctjpp.24.2.07
Hidalgo, A. E., Pearson, L., Oku, T., Kimoto, Y., Furuya, S., & Ruiz, M. H. (2025) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2025.03.31.646422
“PA is characterised by altered physiological, cognitive, and affective states 3,4,6–9 , often impairing performance in critical moments.”
Bukina, J., Mesi, J., & Raju, M. (2025) · Methis Studia humaniora Estonica · doi:10.7592/methis.v28i35.25572
Analysis of the Psychophysiological Characteristics of Athletes
Kulikov, F., Kamaldinova, Z. F., Ivaschenko, A. V., et al. (2025) · Lecture notes in networks and systems · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-96798-6_1
- Authors
- Balyan, K. Y., Tok, S., Tatar, A., Binboga, E., & Balyan, M.
- Affiliations
- Ege University (TR)
- Manisa Celal Bayar University (TR)
- Fatih Sultan Mehmet Waqf University (TR)
- 1Ege University
- Corresponding author
- Tok, Serdar
- Venue
- Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology
- Publisher
- Human Kinetics
- Published
- 2016-03
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 48-58
- ISSN
- 1932-9261 (ISSN-L)
- 1932-927X
- OpenAlex
- W2338028094
- Cited by
- 41
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 5 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 3.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Licence
- cc-by-nc-nd
- Locations
- Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology (publishedVersion)
- DSpace@FSM (FSM Vakif University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Sport Psychology and Performance
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychological Treatments and Assessments
- Keywords
- competitive anxiety, cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety, physiological arousal, electrodermal activity, personality, neuroticism, Big Five personality traits, male athletes, soccer performance
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
