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In competition, national-team archers are no less anxious than other archers

1 study · 156 archers measured

A hundred and fifty-six archers who had taken part in the 2018 Turkey Cup filled in Spielberger's inventory, and seventeen of them were on the Turkish national team. Their means are almost identical to those of the other hundred and thirty-nine: 61.8 against 60.5 for state anxiety, how anxious someone feels in the moment, and 40.8 against 41.0 for trait anxiety, how anxious they tend to be in general. It is the only comparison of its kind in the registry's bibliography, and it says less than it appears to for two reasons. With seventeen archers in one group a moderate difference can go unnoticed, and a null result says that the study did not see one, not that there is none. Nor does the paper say when the questionnaires were filled in, or whether it was during the competition, which for state anxiety is decisive. What remains is a descriptive finding: in that sample mean state anxiety was around 61 on a scale from 20 to 80, above the midpoint of the scale for everyone, and being on the national team did not lower it. It comes from a single cross-sectional study, published in a journal with questionable editorial standards, so the registry reports it but does not use it to decide the status, which remains not studied.

Also phrased as: "elite archers are less anxious"; "national-team archers have learnt to handle anxiety"; "anxiety is a problem for lower-level archers"; "level and competition anxiety"

In practice

It is taken for granted that archers who reach the national team have learnt to handle competition, and that anxiety is mainly a problem for those shooting at lower levels.

Evidence

  • 2019
    Context Archers Published later

    Venue with questionable editorial standards: this result does not count towards the status. 156 Turkish archers who had taken part in the 2018 Turkey Cup, 17 on the national team and 139 not, with Spielberger's inventory: state anxiety 61.82 ± 8.49 against 60.49 ± 9.94 (t = 0.530, p = 0.597); trait anxiety 40.76 ± 10.38 against 40.96 ± 8.86 (t = -0.086, p = 0.932). When the questionnaires were completed is not stated.

    Examination of the Level of State- Trial Anxiety of Elite Level Archers from Several Variables Questionable venue · Haluk Saçakli

Status history

  1. 1990 Not studied In the registry's bibliography nobody has yet compared the competition anxiety of national-team archers with that of other archers. The idea that a higher level brings more calm has still to be put to the test.
  2. 2019 Not studied Among a hundred and fifty-six archers who had taken part in the 2018 Turkey Cup, the seventeen on the Turkish national team have the same state anxiety as the other hundred and thirty-nine, 61.8 against 60.5, and the same trait anxiety, 40.8 against 41.0. With such a small national-team group a moderate difference could slip through, and the paper does not say when the questionnaires were filled in, or whether it was during the competition. It is a single cross-sectional study, in a journal with questionable editorial standards: the registry reports it but does not use it to decide the status, which remains not studied.

Related

Research lines

Cite
APA

Campagna, M. (2026). In competition, national-team archers are no less anxious than other archers (Version 2). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/competition-anxiety-national-team-archers

BibTeX
@misc{campagna2026_ansiaarcierinazionale,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {In competition, national-team archers are no less anxious than other archers},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/competition-anxiety-national-team-archers},
  note = {Version 2; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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