The role of anxiety and self-efficacy in movement

Abstract

Previous research suggests that affective factors may influence perception of potential movement differently compared to perception during movement itself. To build on this the current study investigated the roles of general and movement-specific anxiety, self-efficacy, general resilience and motor control in how 41 adults with typical motor skills thought they would behave (perceptual judgement) and how they actually behaved (executed action). Participants completed several standardised scales and two movement-specific scales, a perceptual judgement task and an executed action task. In the perceptual judgement task participants judged whether they would need to turn their shoulders to walk through different sized apertures between 0.9 and 1.9 their shoulder width-to-aperture ratio. This involved a static (standing still) and a dynamic (walking towards) condition. The executed action task involved actually walking through the different sized gaps between the doors. Findings were discussed within an ecological framework drawing strongly on Newell's constraints-based approach (1986). Results indicated a relationship between higher movement-specific anxiety and bigger safety margins. This highlights the importance of measure specificity in being able to detect nuanced relationships between affective factors and the perception-action cycle. Notable differences were also shown in the point of behaviour change (critical ratio) between perceptual judgement and executed action, illustrating the importance of studying perception and action together since they can be subject to different constraints. The findings contribute novel insights into the roles of these factors in how adults with typical motor skills perceive and realise their intentions and abilities to act in the world.