Relationship between state & trait anxiety

A direct (although not perfect) relationship exists between a person’s levels of trait and state anxiety.

Those who score highly on trait measure of anxiety also score highly on state measures of anxiety in evaluative situations.

A highly trait anxious athlete may be very experienced in a particular situation and for that reason not perceive a threat and therefore not suffer from state anxiety OR some highly trait anxious people learn coping strategies to reduce their state anxiety in evaluative situations.

Knowing a person’s level of trait anxiety will generally help to predict how they will behave in competition.