There is a tendency to classify emotions in positive and negative. Emotions are not negative for themselves; they can be positive and also dangerous. They become dangerous when we fail to realize the causes behind our emotions. When we are carried away by anxiety or anger, we can put ourselves and others at risk with our behavior because our emotions dominate our decisions. This emotional reaction is a sign which does not necessarily report the reality of the situation.
Negative emotions can affect our physical and mental skiing performance. For example, in frustration and anger, the intensity of our emotions affects muscle tension; breathing; heart rate; the energy level decreases and as a result, the coordination of our movements and actions are affected. When in certain situations we experience despair and impotence; our physical capacity and confidence decline.
In terms of positive emotions, we can consider that if we are conscious, all emotions are positive because they are communicating us something. Positive emotions like interest, satisfaction, passion, and optimism lead us to a proactive and pleasant behavior in our skiing development. To attain a suitable emotional behavior, we should regulate our negative emotions and develop positive ones.
Emotion and decision
Emotions contribute to cognitive processes on how we think, reason or make decisions when skiing. They alert us about relevant situations and motivate us to make decisions to protect our own interests and that of others. Emotions, usually unconscious, precede and influence conscious rational decisions.
Emotions influence our decisions in skiing so much that we usually rely on them to make quick decisions. We tend to act favorably to something familiar and unfavorably if it is not familiar. The reckless skier usually knows what he is doing is risky but does not estimate that it is dangerous enough to decide not to do it.
To experience an emotion, we perceive body information which leads us to decide a certain behavior. Common sense is a set of habits that come from experience which, together with the emotional information perceived, form the basis for our decisions but this does not mean they are always appropriate; sometimes not considering these parameters, or do it halfway, involves committing mistakes.
We cannot inhibit emotions to allow reason responsible for deciding. We should be conscious by paying attention to how our emotions influence us and try to regulate them by realizing when our emotional states exceed the average for the situation. If the level of uncertainty about what might happen is significant when making decisions, then we surely will tend to assume a negative outcome of the actions we pretend to perform.
Skiing decision-making involves emotions and reasoning. We make decisions generally based on our emotions since the process is faster than using reason because we may not have enough time to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the actions we try to execute, then it can be said that our skiing decisions are rationally guided by our emotions.
Appraisal
Emotions are complex phenomena that modulate and guide our skiing behavior. According to the concept of appraisal (evaluation, judgment, assessment) proposed by Arnold (1960), we evaluate automatically and immediately things we perceive. Thus, we would tend to approach what we evaluate as good or pleasant and avoid what is bad or unpleasant, ignoring what is neutral.
The evaluation of situations is related to perception and leads the person to act (Deak, 2011). For example, we appraise a situation that seems threatening (inclined slope; ice; uneven ground; high speed) and this can cause us certain bodily reactions that we recognize as fear, meaning that our evaluative judgment triggers the emotion and the involuntary reaction. Evaluating is then the mechanism we use to relate our emotional reaction to the adaptive decision about the prevailing circumstance.
Regulating emotions
If our emotions are not regulated, they lead us to exaggerated behavioral states. For example, intense anger becomes aggression and excessive pleasure could lead to addiction. Worry leads to a generalized anxiety disorder. Fear, even though it is necessary for certain situations as a self-preservation mechanism, if it is exaggerated can lead to phobias and other affective disorders, so we can say that emotions change intensity from normal to intense.
If we regulate our emotions, we get a functional and adaptive skiing behavior, but if they cannot be regulated, anxiety and other disorders appear affecting our skiing. Many times emotions dominate our rational behavior generating unconscious responses, but thoughts can influence its regulation such as decreasing the anxiety level, being less angry or less afraid.
According to these considerations, you can apply the following recommendations in your own skiing:
- First, let’s underline that your emotions can be dangerous when you fail to realize the causes behind them. When you are skiing carried away by anxiety or anger, you can put yourself and others at risk with your behavior because your emotions dominate your decisions.
- You should take into account that your emotions will influence your decisions so much that you will rely on them to make quick decisions. It is here that you should recourse to your common sense and evaluate your situation.
- Once again, if you regulate your emotions, you will get a functional and adaptive skiing behavior, on the contrary, anxiety and other disorders will appear affecting your skiing.
