Anxiety drive and prediction of performance

Abstract

The papers begin with an outline of investigations of some relationships between drive and performance in simple controlled situations, where measures of anxiety are used as indices of drive. A brief account of a Melbourne standardization of two Anxiety scales will be given.Evidence pertaining to some intra-personal correlates of anxiety (drive) will be presented. Then, there will be an examination of some relationships between anxiety (drive) and school performance.Finally, some issue related to interpretation of the above evidence will be raised. Discussion will be focussed, firstly, on the status of the concept of generalized drive strength versus the hypothesis of more specific sources of. motivation; and secondly, on analysis of whether anxiety scales are not more usefully applied as empirical predictors of performance.