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We always think we know what we feel, yet there is often a gap between the body's signals and the way we interpret them. This gap explains why two athletes in the same situation can experience completely different emotions. Their emotional constructions are not based on the same learning or the same filters. Understanding this mechanism allows athletes to decode their sensations, redirect their emotional state and use their physiological arousal as a real driver of performance.
The paradox of emotions: understanding what we feel.
To understand the paradox of emotions in athletes, it is essential to distinguish three terms: bodily sensations, emotions and feelings.
Sensations are raw information coming from the body, such as a racing heart or tension in the stomach. From these sensations, the body generates emotions, which are automatic, rapid reactions to a situation, such as fear, anger or joy. Then, when we become aware of these emotions and interpret them over time, they become feelings, such as feeling anxious, guilty or confident. In other words, sensations come from the body, emotions are the reaction, and feelings are the interpretation we make of them.
According to Lisa Feldman Barrett (2017), a leading figure in neuroscience, emotions are not prefabricated packages but constructions based on:
- interoception: the objective, conscious observation of internal bodily sensations, e.g. heart rate, breathing or muscle tension.
- Culture, upbringing and personal history influence our emotions by shaping the way we feel, interpret and express them.
- The social context influences the athlete's emotions by dictating what is expected of them, how they should behave and which emotions they can show or hide.
Why do athletes often find it hard to name their emotions?
Many athletes describe difficulty naming or understanding their emotions. They often say “I don't know what I'm feeling”, “It's confusing”. This phenomenon corresponds to what Taylor (1997) calls functional alexithymia, i.e. a gap between internal experience and the ability to put it into words. The emotion is there, but the words are missing. In athletes, this difficulty is no coincidence. Several factors play a role.
1. Sporting culture values control
Sporting culture shapes the way athletes construct their emotions. From childhood, sport conveys implicit but extremely powerful messages: “keep it together”, “don't show anything”, “a champion doesn't doubt”. These injunctions are internalised and become norms. In an environment where performance is central, showing emotion can be seen as a sign of weakness, or even as a risk to your place in the team. (see previous article “the illusion of everything is fine”) Emotions are not forbidden, but they must be discreet, controlled, sometimes even imperceptible.
Scientifically, the theory of constructed emotion (Barrett, 2017) explains that the brain uses learned concepts and cultural rules to interpret bodily signals and give them meaning. Sporting culture provides a particular framework: it values stoicism and control, and devalues spontaneous expression. So athletes feel but do not learn to translate, because translating would mean acknowledging internal states perceived as not conforming to the dominant sporting culture.
2. The social context creates emotional filters
According to Barrett's theory of constructed emotion (2017), the brain does not simply receive information about bodily sensations; it predicts what these sensations mean based on the social context and the roles the individual occupies. In other words, the social environment partly dictates how emotions are interpreted.
In sport, these contexts are highly codified and directly influence emotional labelling. In matches, the context demands strength, fighting spirit and control: the athlete must appear confident and determined. Bodily activation will be interpreted as excitement or motivation rather than fear or anxiety. In the context of recovery, calm and relaxation are valued: the same bodily activation will be perceived differently, for example as residual tension or a need to let go. At a selection or in front of a coach, the context demands control and emotional stability: the athlete will filter their internal sensations to show only what fits the expected role, for example masking stress or nervousness.
So the brain “filters” sensations so that they match what the social context demands or allows. This mechanism explains why we are programmed to interpret the same physiological signal differently depending on the moment, what is at stake or the athlete's social environment.
In short, the social context acts as a prism that colours emotion, modulating the way an athlete feels and expresses their internal states.
3. The body: interoception, a forgotten sense
According to Craig (2002), interoception is the ability to perceive the body's internal signals. In athletes, this dimension is particularly developed, because their bodies are subjected to high physiological intensities: unstable heart rate, rapid hormonal changes, recovery after injury and fatigue. In some athletes, habituation to effort can also dull the perception of certain signals, while others become louder.
These internal signals are numerous, strong and changing. Interoception therefore becomes richer, but also more complex to interpret. Barrett (2017) explains that emotions arise from the combination of interoception and the brain's predictions. The noisier interoception is, the more effort the brain has to make to interpret the signals. This can lead to labelling errors.
How can you use this paradox to perform?
The first step in harnessing the paradox of emotions is to distinguish sensation from emotion. Sensations are raw bodily signals. Emotions, on the other hand, are the interpretation the brain makes of these sensations in a given context. For example: “My heart is racing” is a sensation. “I'm panicking” is an emotion, i.e. the meaning given to that sensation.
Next, it is important to observe your internal sensations without getting carried away by automatic interpretations. Observation allows you to step back, name what is really happening in the body and understand its message.
Once this distinction has been integrated, the work can move on to mastering and managing emotions. Athletes don't need to “control” their emotions, but to understand how they are constructed and how they affect them. When they grasp the internal mechanics, they stop fighting themselves. That precise moment opens the way to real mental work and performance optimisation. The athlete stops fighting what they feel and starts using their internal states as tools rather than obstacles.
In the psychological support offered at AU MENTAL, we teach athletes of all ages to distinguish, observe and master their emotions to their best advantage in daily life and on the pitch.
Conclusion: accepting the paradox to reach your full potential
Emotions are not objective truths; they are constructions and informative signals. They tell a story, but not always the right one. For an athlete, learning to understand this mechanism makes it possible to better decode their sensations, redirect their emotional state, use their physiological arousal as fuel for performance and above all… no longer be afraid of what they feel. AU MENTAL offers a space to explore these paradoxes, learn to tame them and turn emotional blur into stable, lasting and high-performing mental strength.
References
- Barrett, L. F. (2017). How Emotions are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain.
- Craig, A. D. (2002). “How do you feel? Interoception: the sense of the physiological condition of the body.”
- Jamieson, J. P. (2013). “Challenge and threat appraisals: The role of reappraisal in stress.”
- Schachter, S., & Singer, J. (1962). “Cognitive, social, and physiological determinants of emotional state.”
- Taylor, G. J. (1997). Disorders of Affect Regulation: Alexithymia in Medical and Psychiatric Illness.
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