Synonyms
Introduction
Trait anxiety refers to the relatively stable and enduring tendency to experience anxiety about future situations or events where the outcome is uncertain but has the potential to be threatening or negative. The experience of anxiety has both cognitive (e.g., worry) and somatic (e.g., feeling tense or on edge) components. Trait anxiety is related to the broader personality domain of neuroticism and is seen as a maladaptive trait. People high in trait anxiety experience anxiety about a variety of situations or topics across time.
Historical Perspectives
Sigmund Freud defined neurotic anxiety as the general tendency to find many stimuli threatening and to respond anxiously to them (Freud 1924). Charles Spielberger, who developed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Spielberger et al. 1983), one of most widely and frequently used measures of the construct, defined trait anxiety as the propensity for an individual to experience s...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Antony, M. M., & Barlow, D. H. (1996). Emotion theory as a framework for explaining panic attacks and panic disorder. In R. M. Rapee (Ed.), Current controversies in anxiety disorders (pp. 55–76). New York: Guilford Press.
Freud, S. (1924). A general introduction to psychoanalysis. New York: Washington Square Press. 1961 edition.
Krueger, R. F. (1999). The structure of common mental disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 56, 921–926.
Mathews, A., & MacLeod, C. (2005). Cognitive vulnerability to emotional disorders. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 1, 167–195.
Ree, M. J., French, D., MacLeod, C., & Locke, V. (2008). Distinguishing cognitive and somatic dimensions of state and trait anxiety: Development and validation of the state–trait inventory for cognitive and somatic anxiety (STICSA). Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 36, 313–332.
Reiss, S. (1997). Trait anxiety: It’s not what you think it is. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 11, 201–214.
Spielberger, C. D., Gorsuch, R. L., Lushene, R., Vagg, P. R., & Jacobs, G. A. (1983). Manual for the state-trait anxiety inventory (form Y). Palo Alto: Mind Garden.
Spielberger, C. D., Pollans, C. H., & Worden, T. J. (1984). Anxiety disorders. In S. M. Turner & M. Hersen (Eds.), Adult psychopathology and diagnosis (pp. 263–303). New York: Wiley.
Sylvers, P., Lilienfeld, S. O., & LaPrairie, J. L. (2011). Differences between trait fear and trait anxiety: Implications for psychopathology. Clinical Psychology Review, 31, 122–137.
Zuckerman, M. (1976). General and situation-specific traits and states: New approaches to assessment of anxiety and other constructs. In M. Zuckerman & C. Spielberger (Eds.), Emotions and anxiety (PLE: Emotion): New concept, methods, and applications (pp. 133–174). New York: Wiley.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Stewart, K.E., Antony, M.M. (2017). Trait Anxiety. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_875-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_875-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences