Psychosomatic Medicine 34:1-8 (1972)
© 1972 American Psychosomatic Society

Individual Differences in Physiologic Arousal and Performance in Sport Parachutists

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Address for reprint requests: Walter D. Fenz, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

The study illustrates the relationship between autonomic arousal and performance in sport parachutists. The most adaptive autonomic response pattern, the one related to the best performance, is shown to be that of an increase in arousal early during the jump sequence, followed by a sharp decrease in arousal which extends to the time when the subject exits from the aircraft. The study supports earlier findings, that fear of a stressful event does not simply dissipate, but rather is inhibited or controlled. Individual differences, in the extent to which a person has learned to cope with his fear, do arise. The study shows that while repeated exposure to a stressor is an important variable, there are also other variables not related to experience which are responsible for differences between subjects in their ability to deal effectively with stress.