Cognition, anxiety, and performance on a career-related oral examination.

A 4-stage model of evaluation anxiety incorporating ability, affective, cognitive, and performance variables was tested in the context of a career-related oral examination among enlisted personnel in the U.S. Army. A path analysis supported the stage model for the most part, showing the influence of dispositional anxiety, preexamination anxiety, self-efficacy, and negative thoughts before and during the examination on participants' oral examination performance. The nature of the examination-stage cognitive variable appears to be important, because in the path analysis negative thoughts were predictive of performance, but state of mind (the ratio of positive to positive-plus-negative thoughts) was not. Results have implications for career counseling and suggest that cognitive-behavioral interventions may be effective for individuals with anxiety related to job evaluations