Debilitating and Facilitating Anxiety Effects on Identification

Abstract

Thirty-nine students and two employees at a public northeastern university voluntarily participated in the experiment. Participants were asked to complete an anxiety questionnaire, then to view briefly and identify in limited time one of two structures built of Wedgits, a building toy. Anxiety has been shown to affect performance even among subjects without clinical anxiety disorders. Debilitating Anxiety, associated with decreased problem solving coping (behaviors that address the stressor and improve performance), and Facilitating Anxiety, associated with enhanced and proactive problem solving coping, were assessed. The hypothesis that dominant Debilitating Anxiety would correspond to more errors than dominant Facilitating Anxiety was supported.