Evaluating the Performance of Adjudicators after a DanceSport Competition

Abstract

Cognitive and emotional ability are relevant during sport assessments and decision-making. This study explored the impact of vigilance, perceived effort, and mood state of DanceSport adjudicators during a High Level Competition. Thereby, seven international adjudicators completed Borg’s Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) Scale, BRUMS questionnaire, and Attentional Task (Psychomotor Vigilance Task - PVT) before and after a dance competition. The results indicated differences in RPEs (p = .05) with a high RPE after competition (pre competition M = 9.14, SD = 2.67 and post competition M = 13.71, SD = 3.30). Furthermore, their mood tension and vigor, resulted negatively affected after competition. Moreover, younger adjudicators produced more anticipations than older ones to the reaction to external stimuli. In conclusion, DanceSport competitions entail physical, emotional, and cognitive changes that could affect the quality of decisions while judging.