Performance effects of self-focused attention among evaluatively anxious and normal individuals: A review of the literature. Psychology.

Abstract

During the last three decades there has been a growing literature on self-focused attention, the state during which the self becomes the center of awareness. The effects of such a mental state on the performance of social, cognitive and other tasks have been examined in many studies, and results show that self-focus is associated with improved or deteriorated performance depending on other factors, such as the presence of evaluation anxiety, the participants' success expectations and the presence of psychological disorders associated with social or evaluative concerns. The mechanism behind this interaction between self-focused attention and other factors has not yet become clear, although several theoretical models have been developed to examine the findings. This review summarizes the empirical findings and theoretical models and proposes directions for further research and theory development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)