Anxiety is a natural human response to a threatening situation. Anxiety is a form of the "fight-or-flight" response-the body and mind become aroused and alert to prepare for attack or to escape from a threat. Test and performance anxieties describe responses specific to evaluative situations-situations in which you are being observed or evaluated by others. The primary "threat" in these situations is the possibility of failure and loss of esteem. Depending on the intensity of the anxiety response, the emotional, behavioral, and cognitive components of anxiety can interfere with your ability to perform the task at hand (e.g., test score, athletic or artistic performance). If you experience test or performance anxiety, you are not alone-approximately 20% of US college students experience symptoms of test anxiety and most athletes and artists experience performance anxiety at some point in their careers.
Test or performance anxiety typically occurs :
1. In the presence of a difficult, threatening or challenging situation,
2. When you believe that you are inadequate or incapable of meeting the challenge, and,
3. You fear the consequences of possible failure.
The above information thankfully comes from the campusblues.com at the following link.
