Distinguishing emotion and mood components of pre-competition anxiety among professional rugby players

Research has demonstrated that emotion and mood can be distinguished empirically in line with generally accepted theoretical predictions (Beedie, Lane, & Terry, 2001, Journal of Sports Sciences. 19, 69-70). Theoretically, emotion is brief and intense, whereas mood is relatively enduring and unfocused. Emotion results from, and is focused on, specific events, and signals to the individual the state of the environment in relation to goal-directed behaviour; whereas mood does not result from any specific event of which the individual is aware, and signals the state of the self in relation to existential, life issues. The consequences of emotion are mostly behavioural, whereas those of mood are mostly cognitive. Psychometrically, a clear distinction between the constructs has proven problematic, as states such as anxiety may occur as both emotions and moods.