Olivia Jordan

Why Does Performance Anxiety Happen?

In my last post, I shared my personal experience with performance anxiety and how I discovered that I wasn’t alone. That discovery naturally led to another question: Why does it happen in the first place? At first, I assumed the answer would be simple. Maybe people just weren’t prepared enough or needed more practice. Maybe they lacked confidence. Maybe they just weren’t cut out for it. As I began researching the topic, however, I realized the answer is much more complicated. Though everyone’s experience is unique, performance anxiety develops through a combination of psychological, biological, and environmental factors. Understanding these three areas helped me realize that performance anxiety isn’t caused by a single problem or personal weakness. Instead, many different systems influence how we respond to pressure.

Our thoughts have a powerful influence on how we perform. A common cause of performance anxiety is the fear of being judged by others. We often worry about making mistakes or disappointing the people watching us. Another important factor is perfectionism. Perfectionists often believe that one mistake ruins an entire performance, when in reality, mistakes are simply part of learning and growing. Another important concept is catastrophic thinking. This is when our minds automatically imagine the worst possible outcome. Thoughts such as, “What if I fall?” or “What if I forget everything?” can make a situation seem much more threatening than it really is. Researchers also use the term self-efficacy, which refers to our belief in our ability to succeed in a particular task or situation. Even after hours of preparation, we may struggle to perform with confidence if we don’t believe in ourselves.

One of the most fascinating discoveries I made was that performance anxiety isn’t just about our thoughts. It’s also about how our brains are designed to protect us. When the brain perceives a threat, it activates the fight-or-flight response, a survival system that helped our ancestors respond to danger. Stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol prepare the body by increasing heart rate, speeding up breathing, and tensing our muscles. These reactions are incredibly useful if we’re escaping from danger, but they’re much less helpful when we’re trying to perform a violin concerto, land a double Axel in a skating competition, or remember answers during an AP exam.

I was also surprised to learn that researchers have found that high levels of anxiety can temporarily affect the parts of the brain responsible for memory, emotional regulation, and decision-making. This helps explain why people sometimes “blank out” or struggle to perform skills they have practiced hundreds of times. The skill hasn’t disappeared. Anxiety simply makes it harder for the brain to access it when it matters most.

As I continued reading, I realized that our environment also plays an important role in shaping performance anxiety. Schools, sports, and the performing arts often emphasize rankings, scores, awards, and competition. Social media adds another layer by making performances easy to record, share, and compare with others. As a result, many people feel as though every mistake is being watched and remembered. Parents, coaches, teachers, and friends also have a significant influence. Encouragement can build confidence and resilience, while constant criticism or unrealistic expectations can make people feel that their worth depends entirely on how well they perform. Over time, these experiences shape the way we think.

Perhaps the biggest lesson I learned is that performance anxiety rarely has a single cause. Instead, it’s the result of many different factors working together. Our thoughts, our biology, our past experiences, and the environment around us all influence how we respond to pressure. Learning about these causes didn’t make my own performance anxiety disappear overnight, but it did change the way I viewed it. Instead of seeing anxiety as a personal weakness, I began to understand it as a natural human response that many people experience. That realization gave me hope because if researchers can understand why performance anxiety happens, then we can also learn better ways to manage it.

Coming Next…

What Happens Inside the Brain During Performance Anxiety?

In my next post, I’ll take a closer look at what actually happens inside the brain during performance anxiety. Understanding the science behind our stress response helped me realize why our minds sometimes seem to work against us, even when we’ve prepared as well as we possibly can.

Reflection Question: Have you ever practiced for something until you felt completely prepared, only to become anxious when it was finally time to perform? If so, which do you think played the biggest role in your anxiety: your thoughts, your environment, or your body’s stress response?

References

The ideas in this article are based on published research in psychology, neuroscience, sports psychology, and performance science. The references below are provided for readers who would like to learn more.

1. Lehrer, P. M. (1987). A review of the approaches to the management of tension and stage fright in music performance. Medical Problems of Performing Artists, 2(1), 5-11.
2. American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.).
3. Fuentes-Rodriguez, G., Garcia-Lopez, L. J., & Garcia-Trujillo, V. (2018). Exploring the role of the DSM-5 performance-only specifier in adolescents with social anxiety disorder. Psychiatry Research, 270, 1033-1038.
4. Yerkes, R. M., & Dodson, J. D. (1908). The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit formation. Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology, 18(5), 459-482.