Providing evidence for the validity of the findings, there was consistency in the results when judges' sources of stress were examined via quantitative ratings or a qualitative method. The few judges who reported problems with spectators and coaches indicated that the incidents occurred primarily at the college level. The anxiety literature indicates that stress can be costly in terms of task execution. For example, past studies have shown that stress negatively impacts people's capacity to attend to task-relevant stimuli and quickly and correctly integrate the information processed. Such changes in a judge's attentional capabilities would be detrimental to the accuracy of her routine scores.
Research has also show that anxiety is negatively related to how much individuals enjoy an activity.
Not surprisingly, it has also been found that chronic stress is the major contributor to burnout. Consequently, we would expect to see a high dropout rate among officials who regularly feel anxious at gymnastics meets. It should not be necessary that any judge increase her likelihood of illness as a result of her judging responsibilities. The findings of this project tell us that, although the mean level is not especially high, competition-related stress occurs among women's gymnastics judges. This is a crucial step to formulating specific strategies for countering the contributors to stress among judges.