What is Trait Anxiety?

Anxiety is defined as a psychological and physiological condition that includes various components (behavioral, cognitive, emotional and genetic/somatic), which merge and result in feelings such as nervousness, panic and discomfort. Anxiety can also be categorized as being "state" or "trait," depending on its duration.

State vs. Trait

• State anxiety is identified as an unpleasant emotional stimulation that occurs when a person is comes into contact with frightening stressors or dangers. Trait anxiety, which signifies a person's continual tendency to react with state anxiety, because they're persistently expecting bad circumstances to transpire.

Significance

• Trait anxiety is generally associated with people who have an anxiety disorder.

Features

• Trait anxiety is regarded as a fixed stage of anxiety, which is undergone by a person who has the propensity to become extra anxious and persistently displays unhealthy responses when he encounters stimuli that provokes him.

Effects

• A person who suffers from trait anxiety can become anxious from a number of things that another person wouldn't even pick up on; for example their anxiety may be triggered by a leaf blowing in the wind, or a specific color (things that people without the condition would not even begin to perceive as a threat).

Function

• The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), developed by Charles D. Spielberger, is one of the most frequently used assessment tools for self-reporting the degree of anxiety a person experiences;it's especially helpful for those with trait anxiety, to record the various stimuli that provoke them and the level of anxiety they cause