Anxiety: Trait and State Anxiety

2.3.1.1 Anxiety

The range of possible definitions of anxiety is, in principle, unlimited, and, in

practice, very broad. Various definitions of anxiety sound very much alike (Levitt,

1980). Eidelberg holds that anxiety is the “unpleasure experienced when the object is

unknown and the anticipation of being overwhelmed by an internal or external force

is present” (Eidelberg, 1968). Anxiety is also an “unpleasurable effect consisting of

psycho-physiological changes in response to an intra-psychic conflict. It is an

uncomfortable feeling of impending danger, accompanied by overwhelming

awareness of being powerless, inability to perceive the unreality of the threat,

prolonged feeling of tension, and exhaustive readiness for expected danger”

(Freedman, Kaplan, and Saddock, 1976). Almost everyone agrees that anxiety is an

unpleasant-feeling State, clearly distinguishable from other emotional States and

having physiological concomitants. In addition to this common core of meaning,

however, the term takes on other nuances and shadings of meaning, depending upon

the particular theoretical orientation and operational criteria employed by individual

researchers (Reubush, 1963).

To sum up, anxiety can be viewed as a State of apprehension, uneasiness and

uncertainty resulting from the anticipation of a threatening event or situation, often to

a degree that the normal physical and psychological functioning of the affected

individual is disrupted. The psychological side of anxiety includes a specific

conscious inner attitude and a peculiar feeling state characterized by:

(1) A physically, as well as mentally, painful awareness of being powerless to do

anything about a personal matter;

(2) Foreboding of an impending and almost inevitable danger;

(3) A tense and physically exhausting alertness as if facing an emergency;

(4) An apprehensive self-absorption which interferes with an effective and

advantageous solution of reality's problems; or

(5) An irresolvable doubt concerning the nature of the threatening evil,

concerning the probability of the actual appearance of the threat, concerning

the best objective means of reducing or removing the evil, and concerning

one's subjective capacity for making effective use of those means if and when

the emergency arises (Spielberger, 1972; Levitt, 1980).

Symptoms of anxiety can be organized into three categories: physiological,

cognitive, and behavioral. Physiological reactions to stress and anxiety include

difficulty concentrating, loss of appetite, increased heart rate and shortness of breath,

dizziness, butterflies, wobbly knees, shaky hands and sweaty palms (Spielberger,

1972; Levitt, 1980). Generally the physiological symptoms are part of the fight or

flight reflex. Measurements taken during studies of performance anxiety also showed

raised levels of adrenaline and noradrenaline in the urine and this causes the

hyper-alertness mentioned previously. This indicates activation of the nervous system

(Deutsch, 1999). Cognitive symptoms of anxiety include fear of making mistakes and

feelings of inadequacy and worrying about things happening. Behavioral symptoms

are not being able to do things which tend to happen naturally.

It is important to clarify the underlying connotation of “anxiety” and “stress” as

the two terms will both be used in this study. Spilberger (1972) proposed a tripartite

definition that stress refers only to the stimulus, an object or situation that most

sensible people would agree is dangerous or overwhelming, physically or

psychologically. The individual’s perception of the stress is called threat, and his

subsequent response may be anxiety. A stress or stressful situation is one containing

stimuli or circumstances calculated to arouse anxiety in an individual.

2.3.1.2 Trait and State Anxiety

When the psychologist says that a person is anxious, the statement may be

interpreted in either of two ways. It may mean that the person is anxious at the

moment, or it may mean that he is an anxious person. The two interpretations are

quite different. The former refers to an immediate and probably temporary state,

whereas the latter is a constant condition without a time limitation.

The distinction between anxiety as a momentary condition and anxiety as a

relatively permanent characteristic is far from new. The distinction between anxiety as

a mood and as characteristic received its first meaningful attention in the work of

Cattell and Scheier (1960), who coined the two terms State (temporary) and Trait

(proneness) Anxiety. These terms received further attention from Lazarus and

Spielberger. The latter drew out the full significance of the distinction for research,

popularized it, and established it irrevocably as a basis consideration in the

experimental study of anxiety (Levitt, 1980).

A distinction between State and Trait anxiety has become commonplace

(Spielberger, 1972). State anxiety is defined as an unpleasant emotional arousal in

face of threatening demands or dangers. A cognitive appraisal of threat is a

prerequisite for the experience of this emotion (Lazarus, 1991). That is to say, State

anxiety as reported by the same subject can vary according to the extent to which a

“situation is perceived as dangerous or threatening” by the person, and the degree to

which such a situation is so perceived. Likelihood of that variation in State Anxiety

can be predicted by the Trait-scale.

Trait anxiety, on the other hand, reflects the existence of stable individual

differences in the tendency to respond with State anxiety in the anticipation of

threatening situations. According to Spielberger, Trait anxiety refers to “relatively

stable individual differences in anxiety proneness, i.e., differences among people in

the disposition or tendency to perceive a wide range of situation as threatening and

respond to these situations with differential elevations in State anxiety. Persons who

are high in anxiety proneness are disposed to perceive greater danger in relationships

with other people that involve threats to self-esteem and to respond to these ego

threats with greater elevation in State anxiety or drive level than do persons low in

anxiety proneness (Spielberger, 1975).