ABSTRACT
Spielberger (1966) proposed a conceptual framework for considering trait and state anxiety. In that framework, he argued that external stimuli are initially subject to a process of cognitive appraisal, which determines whether or not any particular stimulus is regarded as threatening. Only those stimuli that are appraised as threatening increase the level of state anxiety. Trait anxiety is of major significance within this conceptualization because the level of trait anxiety affects the process of cognitive appraisal. More specifically, Spielberger (1966) argued that “anxiety as a personality trait (A-trait) would seem to imply a motive or acquired behavioral disposition that predisposes an individual to perceive a wide range of objectively nondangerous circumstances as threatening” (p. 17). Finally, it was argued that when a stimulus was appraised cognitively as being threatening, this would often lead to the involvement of defense mechanisms designed to avoid the threatening situation or to alter the cognitive appraisal.
