Psychological Stress and Competitive Performance

The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the physical stress and physiological variables in relation to the performance of inter-university level male and female gymnasts. The subjects of the study were one hundred eighty-seven inter-university level male and female gymnasts (one hundred and fifteen males and seventy-two females) age ranging from 17 to 25 yrs. The scores obtained from BBBS battery was applied to measure the psychological stress of the university gymnasts.This battery incapable of measuring the four dimensions of stress namely anxiety Frustration, pressure, and conflict. Blood pressure (systolic and diastolic) and the heart rate was recorded. Performances scores of each gymnast were obtained from the record of interuniversity competition. To assess the stress of gymnasts on psychological and physiological variables, mean, standard deviation, ANOVA, t-ratio and Pearsons product moment correlation were computed. The results revealed that male gymnasts were found more frustrated, anxious, conflicted, and under pressure than their female counterparts. They had the variation on the set of four dimensions of stress.