Abstract
Maciej Behnke and Łukasz Kaczmarek synthesize 19 studies (N = 1,045) on challenge versus threat cardiovascular markers and behavioral performance. After bias correction, effects remain small but significant — supporting the biopsychosocial distinction without overstating the inverted-U story.
Behnke, M., & Kaczmarek, Ł. D. (2018). International Journal of Psychophysiology, 130, 73–79. DOI
Start here
Read Pressure first — it turns this literature into a governable coaching map.
Key findings
- Challenge profile — Higher cardiac output and lower total peripheral resistance correlate with better performance (trim-and-fill r ≈ 0.14 / −0.13).
- Threat profile — Constricted vascular response aligns with impaired execution under self-relevant demand.
- Engagement parity — Challenge and threat share elevated heart rate; they differ in appraisal, not mere activation level.
- Effect size modest — Most performance variance remains unexplained — useful boundary, not a single dial.
Limits
Publication bias detected; corrected effects shrink. Sample skews toward young adults in lab and sport tasks — generalisation to everyday knowledge work is indirect.
Application
When you feel head-spin pressure before a block, name whether the body reads challenge (mobilised) or threat (constricted) — then adjust demand or framing before pushing harder. See Pressure.