The psychological factor of stage fright (Case studies)

Stage fright is a term describing "an at times debilitating anxiety- rousing emotion on an account of an uncomfortable social situation" (Hendrikson, 1948). Influencing factors are:

Shyness vs. stage fright

• Shyness is a personality trait whereas stage fright is more situational and a short term characteristic. Similarities are of anxiety or embarrassment, feeling of awkwardness, tendency to say  nothing and intense desire to escape.  

Audience

• Increase audience size produces increased estimate of nervousness and tension

Task performance and perception of anxiety

• Findings that "under evaluative settings, an individuals' level of performance anxiety has a tendency to fluctuate depending on individual perception of audience" (Seta, Crisson, Seta, Wang, 1998).

Other variables

•       Study by Yondem (2007)- studied the relationship between anxiety and general dysfunctional attitudes …"the results revealed there are significant positive co-relation between anxiety and total score of dysfunctional attitudes and the need for approval” (Yondem, 2007).

Alternative Explanation

•   Stage fright is a learned emotional response that can be unlearned. 

It is imperative that we understand the problem of stage fright from a psychological point of view.  By looking at studies of  Seta, Hendrikson and Yodem we can better understand the phenomenon of stage fright and overcome its negative psychological effects. 

Reference:

Hendrikson, E. (1948). A study of stage fright and the judgment of speaking time. Journal of Applied Psychology, 32(5) , 532-536.

Seta, J., Crisson, J., Seta, C., & Wang, M. (1989). Task Performance and Perceptions of Anxiety: Averaging and Summation in an Evaluative Setting. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56(3) , 387-396.

Stage Fright. (2010. June 29). Retrieved February 28, 2012, from Psychwiki:http://www.psychwiki.com/wiki/Stage_Fright 

Yondem, Z. D. (2007). Performance anxiety, dysfunctional attitudes and gender in university music students. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 35(10) , 1415-1426.