Mindfulness, Reinvestment, and Rowing Under Pressure: Evidence for Moderated Moderation of the Anxiety-Performance Relationship

Aims: Our study had two objectives. First, we examined the relationship between dispositional sport-specific mindfulness and rowing performance. Second, we investigated whether dispositional sport-specific mindfulness moderated the moderating effect of conscious processing on the anxiety-performance relationship.

Design: Cross-sectional field study. Participants took part in a competitive race and completed a survey after the race.

Method: Rowers (N = 270) completed post-race measures of mindfulness, rowing-specific reinvestment, perceived performance, anxiety and demographics. We also determined actual rowing performance.

Results: Mindful refocus was positively associated with perceived and actual performance, whilst non-judgmental thinking was only positively associated with perceived performance. Rowing-specific Conscious Motor Processing (RS-CMP) moderation effect on the anxiety-performance relationship was attenuated by high levels of mindful awareness; this was true for both actual and perceived performance. Rowing-specific movement self-consciousness (RS-MSC) moderation effect on the anxiety-performance relationship was moderated by non-judgmental thinking, but only for perceived performance.

Conclusion: Our findings provide initial support that dispositional mindfulness may benefit performance under pressure and that this may be through the attenuation of reinvestment processes. Furthermore, the results demonstrated that mindful awareness and non-judgmental thinking may act on distinct reinvestment processes.