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Anxiousness

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Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences
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Synonyms

Apprehension; Apprehensiveness; Distress; Nervousness; Unease; Uneasiness

Definition

Anxiety is a core construct in personality science, yet remains relatively ambiguous given its association with changing social and cultural norms and expectations, as well as its wide-ranging investigation “as a trait, a state, a stimulus, a response, a drive, and a motive” (Endler and Kocovski 2001, p. 232). It is often experienced as apprehension, tension, and/or discomfort felt in conjunction with a variety of social, cultural, and environmental situations.

Introduction

It is common for individuals who are about to give a public presentation, fly on an airplane, ask someone on a date, go on a job interview, confront someone about a conflict issue, visit a physician’s office, and so on, to experience feelings of anxiousness, or arousal combined with feelings of apprehension and uneasiness. These situations illustrate that anxiousness can be social and environmental, and that people feel...

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Correspondence to Tricia J. Burke .

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Burke, T.J. (2020). Anxiousness. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_1043

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