The relationship between self-confidence and interpretation of competitive anxiety before and after competition

This study examined the relationship between participants' levels of self-confidence and interpretation of anxiety before and after a running or triathlon race. Data was collected at three separate times: one month before, one day before, and one week after competition. Self-confidence was found to significantly impact, and was the strongest predictor of, participants' interpretation of cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety, and self-confidence across the three data collection periods. Specifically, participants who reported higher levels of self-confidence interpreted competitive anxiety as facilitative toward performance and participants who reported lower levels of self-confidence interpreted competitive anxiety as debilitative toward performance. Participants who reported greater levels of self-confidence also reported greater satisfaction with performance. These findings support the linkage between self-confidence and interpretation of competitive anxiety.