The functions of worry and its relation to performance in controllable and uncontrollable situations.

The current study addressed the functions of worry in controllable and uncontrollable stressful situations, with the purpose of testing the "truth" behind positive beliefs about worry. All participants (N=72) were immersed in a stressful situation, that of delivering a speech in front of a camera, and they were randomly allocated to two experimental conditions; in the controllable situation, participants knew the topic in advance, whereas in the uncontrollable situation, they had to give an impromptu speech. Worry was negatively associated with performance in the controllable, r(36) = -.469, p=.002, but not in the uncontrollable condition, r(34) = -.106, p>.05, and, for the participants who believed in the benefits of worry, worrying was not positively related to performance, r(32) = -.196, p>.05. Therefore, it appears that in stressful situations, worrying is not associated with increased performance, even if people might believe in its benefits.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes