Mechanism of performance decrement under evaluative pressure: From the perspective of cognitive process and emotional arousal

Abstract

We investigated the cognitive and emotional process that leads to a decline in performance under evaluative pressure. We hypothesized that when one becomes aware that a goal cannot be achieved during a performance, it leads to subjective arousal, which leads to a decline in performance. We also investigated the relationship between physiological responses (heat rate, skin conductance level), emotional arousal, and performance level. The participants performed a cognitive task (representative working memory task) before the experimenter. We found that the error rate and emotional arousal increased among those who became aware that the goal was unattainable, whereas the error rate did not change among those who were aware that they performed well. No difference was found between the intensity of physiological responses to the awareness between the two groups. However, for both groups, this intensity was higher under evaluative pressure than under no pressure. The results suggest that awareness of failure evokes emotional arousal, which impairs performance to a greater extent than physiological arousal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)