Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T02:39:02.212Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Pre-competitive arousal, perception of equine temperament and riding performance: do they interact?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2010

Inga A Wolframm  and
Dominic Micklewright
Inga A Wolframm*
Affiliation:
University of Applied Science, Van Hall Larenstein (Wageningen UR), Postbus 411, 6700AKWageningen, The Netherlands University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, ColchesterCO4 3SQ, UK
Dominic Micklewright
Affiliation:
University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, ColchesterCO4 3SQ, UK
*
*Corresponding author: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

There is a known relationship between the way athletes interpret the feelings of pre-competitive arousal and their subsequent performance. In equestrian sports, riders' interpretation of their horses' temperament may be an additional unique factor that influences the levels of riders' arousal and performance. The aims of this study were to investigate the effect of intensity and direction of arousal and self-confidence on dressage and showjumping performance, and to investigate how perception of equine temperament traits affects arousal and performance components. Twenty-two student riders (6 males and 16 females) competing on unfamiliar horses were asked to participate in the study. Prior to the competition, riders completed the Revised Competitive Sport Anxiety Inventory-2 with direction scales, and rated their horses' temperament traits using an adapted Five Factor Personality Questionnaire. Dressage performance scores were found to be positively correlated with cognitive arousal intensity (r = − 0.5, P < 0.05) and self-confidence intensity (r = 0.59, P < 0.05). Showjumping faults were negatively correlated with somatic arousal direction scores (r = − 0.5, P < 0.05). The ‘active’ equine temperament was positively correlated with somatic arousal intensity in showjumping (r = 0.5, P < 0.05) and negatively correlated with cognitive arousal direction in dressage (r = − 0.71, P < 0.005). These findings suggest that riders' self-confidence and perception of their horses' temperament are important factors in the relationship between arousal and performance.

Keywords

arousalself-confidenceequestrian
Type
Research Paper
Information
Comparative Exercise Physiology , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , February 2010 , pp. 27 - 36
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1Woodman, T and Hardy, L (2003). The relative impact of cognitive anxiety and self-confidence upon sport performance: a meta-analysis. Journal of Sports Sciences 21: 443–457.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2Hardy, LA (1990). A catastrophe model of anxiety and performance. In: Jones, JG and Hardy, L (eds) Stress and Performance in Sport. Chichester, UK: Wiley, pp. 81–106.Google Scholar
3Martens, R, Vealey, RS and Burton, D (1990). Competitive Anxiety in Sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.Google Scholar
4Martens, R, Burton, D, Vealey, RS, Bump, LA and Smith, DE (1990). Development and validation of the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2. In: Martens, RS, Vealey, RS and Burton, D (eds) Competitive Anxiety in Sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, pp. 117–190.Google Scholar
5Hardy, LA (1996). A test of catastrophe models of anxiety and sports performance against multidimensional theory models using the method of dynamic differences. Anxiety, Stress and Coping 9: 69–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6Edwards, T and Hardy, L (1996). The interactive effects of intensity and direction of cognitive and somatic anxiety and self-confidence upon performance. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology 18: 296–312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7Jones, JG, Hanton, S and Swain, A (1994). Intensity and interpretation of anxiety symptoms in elite and non-elite sports performers. Personality and Individual Differences 17: 657–663.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8Cheng, W-NK, Hardy, L and Markland, D (2008). Toward a three-dimensional conceptualization of performance anxiety: rationale and initial measurement development. Psychology of Sport and Exercise 10: 271–278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9Lazarus, R and Folkman, S (1984). Stress, Appraisal and Coping. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
10Cox, RH, Martens, MP and Russell, WD (2003). Measuring anxiety in athletics: The Revised Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology 25: 519–533.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11Burton, D and Naylor, S (1997). Is anxiety really facilitative? Reaction to the myth that cognitive anxiety always impairs sport performance. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology 9: 295–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12Parfitt, CG, Jones, JG and Hardy, L (1990). Multidimensional anxiety and performance. In: Jones, JG and Hardy, L (eds) Stress and Performance in Sport. Chichester, UK: John Wiley, pp. 43–82.Google Scholar
13Jones, G (1995). More than just a game: research developments and issues in competitive anxiety in sport. British Journal of Psychology 86: 449–478.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14Meyers, MC, Bourgeois, AE, LeUnes, A and Murray, NG (1999). Mood and psychological skills of elite and sub-elite equestrian athletes. Journal of Sport Behavior 22: 399–409.Google Scholar
15Wolframm, IA and Micklewright, D (2009). Pre-competitive levels of arousal and self-confidence among elite and non-elite equestrian riders. Comparative Exercise Physiology 5: 153–159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16Eysenck, MW (1992). Anxiety: The Cognitive Perspective. London: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
17Carver, CS and Scheier, MF (1986). Functional and dysfunctional responses to anxiety: the interaction between expectancies and self-focused attention. In: Schwarzer, R (ed.) Self-related Cognitions in Anxiety and Motivation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, pp. 111–141.Google Scholar
18Ohman, A (2000). Fear and anxiety: evolutionary, cognitive, and clinical perspectives. In: Lewis, M and Haviland-Jones, JM (eds) Handbook of Emotions. 2nd edn. New York: Guilford Press, pp. 573–593.Google Scholar
19Sorli, JM (2005). Equestrian injuries: a five year review of hospital admissions in British Columbia, Canada. Injury Preview 6: 59–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20Visser, EK, Van Reenen, CG, Blokhuis, MZ, Morgan, EK, Hassmén, P, Rundgren, TM et al. . (2008). Does horse temperament influence horse–rider cooperation? Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 11: 267–284.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21Buckley, P, Dunn, T and More, SJ (2004). Owners' perceptions of the health and performance of Pony Club horses in Australia. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 63: 121–133.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22Paalman, A (1998). Training Showjumpers. 2nd edn. London: J.A. Allen & Company Limited.Google Scholar
23Tulloch, S (ed) (1995). The Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
24Wolff, A and Hausberger, M (1996). Learning and memorization of two different tasks in horse: effects of age, sex and sire. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 46: 137–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
25LeScolan, N, Hausberger, M and Wolff, A (1997). Stability over situations in temperament traits of horses as revealed by experimental and scoring approaches. Behavioural Process 41: 257–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26Hausberger, M, Bruderer, CC, LeScolan, N and Pierre, JSB (2004). Interplay between environmental and genetic factors in temperament/personality traits in horses (Equus caballus). Journal of Comparative Psychology 118: 434–446.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
27Visser, EK, van Reenen, CG, Hopster, H, Schilder, MBH, Knaap, JH et al. . (2001). Quantifying aspects of young horses' temperament: consistency of behavioural variables. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 74: 241–258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
28Visser, EK, van Reenen, CG, Engel, B, Schilder, MBH, Barneveld, A and Blokhuis, HJ (2003). The association between performance in showjumping and personality traits earlier in life. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 82: 279–295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
29Visser, EK, van Reenen, CG, Rundgren, M, Zetterqvist, M and Blokhuis, HJ (2003). Response of horses in behavioural tests correlate with temperament assessed by riders. Equine Veterinary Journal 35: 176–183.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
30Morris, PH, Gale, A and Duffy, K (2002). Can judges agree on the personality of horses? Personality and Individual Differences 33: 67–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
31Beauchamp, MR and Whinton, LC (2005). Self-efficacy and other-efficacy in dyadic performance: riding as one in equestrian eventing. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology 27: 245–252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
32Jones, G and Swain, ABJ (1992). Intensity and direction dimensions of competitive anxiety and relationships with competitiveness. Perceptual and Motor Skills 74: 467–472.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
33Goldberg, LR (1993). The structure of phenotypic personality traits. American Psychologist 48: 26–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
34Kline, P (2000). The Handbook of Psychological Testing. 2nd edn.London: Routledge.Google Scholar
35Eysenck, MW and Calvo, MG (1992). Anxiety and performance: the processing efficiency theory. Cognition and Emotion 6: 409–434.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
36Hanton, S, Thomas, O and Maynard, I (2004). Competitive anxiety responses in the week leading up to competition: the role of intensity, direction and frequency dimensions. Psychology of Sport and Exercise 3: 169–181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
37Jones, G, Hanton, S and Swain, ABJ (1994). Intensity and interpretation of anxiety symptoms in elite and non-elite sports performers. Personality and Individual Differences 17: 657–663.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
38McGreevy, PD and Boakes, RA (2006). Carrots and Sticks – Principles of Animal Training. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
39Murphy, M and Arkins, S (2007). Equine learning behaviour. Behavioural Processes 76: 1–13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed