Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory: Measuring Anxiety with and without an Audience during Performance on a Stabilometer

Half of the 56 subjects (n = 28) performed 15 pre-treatment trials on a stabilometer, then six more with an audience of three faculty (Group 1), the other half performed the same task with no audience (Group 2). Subjects completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory prior to and after the treatments. Orthogonal contrasts indicated that Group 1 (audience) post-State-anxiety was significantly different from its own pre-State-anxiety and significantly different from Group 2 (no audience) on post-State-anxiety. It was concluded that the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory is an appropriate measure of trait and state anxiety in studies of motor performance.