From Panic to Peak Performance: How Positive Emotions Enhance Crisis Response

Do you struggle to maintain clear thinking when the pressure is on and stakes are at their highest?

The Broaden-and-Build Theory, proposed by Barbara Fredrickson, explains why this happens and offers a solution for high-pressure professions. Under extreme stress, individuals often experience tunnel vision—a narrowed cognitive and perceptual focus that can hinder performance. This happens because stress triggers the fight-or-flight response, engaging the amygdala (the brain's fear center) while simultaneously limiting access to the prefrontal cortex, which governs rational decision-making, problem-solving, and creativity.

How Broaden-and-Build Can Help Under Pressure

1. Cognitive Flexibility & Decision-Making

• Positive emotions (such as confidence, gratitude, or joy) can counteract the negative effects of stress, helping professionals in high-pressure roles maintain cognitive flexibility.

• A firefighter or police officer facing a crisis needs to assess situations rapidly and make life-saving decisions. A broadened awareness helps them access more options rather than reacting impulsively.

2. Resilience & Emotional Regulation

• The theory suggests that cultivating positive emotions over time builds psychological resilience. This means that, through training and experience, individuals develop coping mechanisms that prevent them from shutting down under stress.

• This is particularly critical for athletes who must perform under pressure, where a positive mindset can separate elite competitors from those who falter.

3. Training for Crisis Situations

• Simulating high-stress conditions in training while incorporating elements of joy, camaraderie, and positive reinforcement can create better long-term coping strategies.

• Military and first responders often use stress inoculation training, where they expose trainees to increasing stressors while reinforcing calm and collected responses. This aligns with the broaden-and-build idea, as those positive experiences train the brain to avoid cognitive collapse in real-world crises.

4. Preventing Burnout & PTSD

• Chronic stress in first responders and athletes can lead to burnout, emotional exhaustion, and PTSD.

• By integrating positivity-focused practices (like mindfulness, gratitude, or team support), individuals can build psychological reserves, helping them recover from traumatic events more effectively.

Real-World Application

• Athletes: Performance under pressure improves when positive emotional states (such as confidence and excitement) replace fear and doubt. Many elite athletes use visualization, gratitude journaling, and team cohesion to foster a broadened cognitive state.

• Firefighters & Police Officers: Tactical breathing, resilience training, and emotional debriefs help professionals retain access to higher-order thinking when faced with life-threatening situations.

• Military & Emergency Responders: Some elite military units incorporate humor and camaraderie as a stress-buffering mechanism, allowing soldiers to perform better in hostile environments.

Takeaway

If negative emotions narrow focus (which is helpful in an immediate survival scenario), then positive emotions broaden focus, allowing for more creative problem-solving, adaptability, and long-term resilience.

The next time you feel your mind narrowing under pressure, try incorporating one simple positive emotion technique—like a deep breath accompanied by a moment of gratitude—and observe how it expands your awareness and options.

Take Your Performance to the Next Level

Ready to transform how you perform under pressure? Here are three ways to get started:

1. Book a consultation: Work one-on-one with me to develop a customized mental performance plan!

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