Though many people recommend staying calm during performance anxiety, a new study found that getting excited is a better way to cope with anxiety, according to a press statement.
This holds true for any anxiety-inducing activity like a math test, speaking in public or performing live in front of a huge crowd.
"Anxiety is incredibly pervasive. People have a very strong intuition that trying to calm down is the best way to cope with their anxiety, but that can be very difficult and ineffective," said study author Alison Wood Brooks, PhD, of Harvard Business School. "When people feel anxious and try to calm down, they are thinking about all the things that could go badly. When they are excited, they are thinking about how things could go well."
To confirm their findings, Harvard University researchers performed several experiments on voluntary participants. In one experiment 63 men and 77 women were told to prepare a persuasive public speech on why they would be good work partners. Researchers informed the participants that their speeches would be judged by a committee to increase their anxiety. Before delivering the speech, participants were instructed to say "I am excited" or "I am calm." In this experiment, researchers found that the participants who said they were excited gave longer speeches and were more persuasive, competent and relaxed than those who said they were calm.
"The way we talk about our feelings has a strong influence on how we actually feel," said Brooks.
Another experiment including 180 participants yielded the same results. 80 men and 108 women were given difficult math problems after they read "try to get excited" or "try to remain calm." A control group didn't read any statement. Participants in the excited group scored 8 percent higher on average than the calm group and the control group, and they reported feeling more confident about their math skills after the test.
"When you feel anxious, you're ruminating too much and focusing on potential threats," she explained. "In those circumstances, people should try to focus on the potential opportunities. It really does pay to be positive, and people should say they are excited. Even if they don't believe it at first, saying 'I'm excited' out loud increases authentic feelings of excitement."
