Anxiety and Motor Behavior

Abstract

Anxiety and related terms were defined by conceptually distinguishing between “state” and “trait” anxiety and between anxiety, stress, and fear. The literature concerned with the anxiety-motor behavior relationship was reviewed using the state-trait anxiety distinction. After outlining the general notions of drive theory as related to anxiety, the literature was reviewed, focusing on the relationship between the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale (MAS) and motor behavior in the absence or in the presence of a stressor, and on those studies using anxiety scales other than the MAS. The accumulated evidence failed to reveal any consistent trends in these three areas. The use of drive theory and the MAS to predict motor behavior was shown not to be a viable approach. Two alternative approaches were briefly outlined.