State anxiety refers to feelings that change from moment to moment, such as before serving a volleyball in front of others. Which option best describes this?

• A. Temporary feelings that change from moment to moment
• B. A permanent personality trait
• C. Fear of injury
• D. Anxiety about social evaluation

Answer: (A)

State anxiety describes temporary, situation-specific feelings of nervousness that can rise and fall from moment to moment. In volleyball, nerves before serving in front of others change quickly with the context of the moment—before the serve you might feel anxious, then those feelings can ease as you begin the action. This shows the fluctuating, situational nature of state anxiety, not a fixed, all-the-time pattern.

Think of it this way: a permanent personality trait would mean the person is consistently anxious across many situations, which isn’t what this moment-to-moment example demonstrates. A fear of injury is about a specific threat rather than the general, time-varying experience. Anxiety about social evaluation can relate to being judged, but it emphasizes the source rather than the changing nature of the feelings themselves. So the description that best fits is temporary feelings that change from moment to moment.