Arousal Theories.

Arousal - This is a state of anticipation and alertness, this prepares the body for an action
Arousal theories is relationship between arousal and performance. There are 4 theories of arousal, these are:


Drive Theory:

Drive theory is the description that the higher you are aroused, the higher your performance level will be. An example of this is, the more you feel up to playing in a game, the more likely you are to perform at a high level.

The positives of having a high level of arousal is that you will want to play to the best of your ability and you will enjoy being out on the field with your team mates. On the contrast, a negative is, if you are over aroused, you may feel overly confident and attempt to do thing in the game that can effect the way the team play or could effect your own game. This can be because you will not perform with seriousness, this will cause lapses of concentration and conviction.

Inverted U Theory:

The inverted U theory is the breakdown of our arousal levels and how they can change and effect our performance. Moderate levels of arousal result in high levels of performance. Too much or not enough levels of arousal results in a lower performance level.



Positives of this are, when your arousal level reaches its highest point, your performance will be at its upmost best.The negative is, once your arousal level gets too high, your performance level will begin to drop. This can dramatically effect how you play throughout the rest of the game.

Catastrophe Theory:

Catastrophe theory is very similar to the U theory, only when an athlete has low cognitive anxiety. When the anxiety is too high the performance drops.

The positive of this theory is that your arousal levels can be at a moderate level for you to perform at at good level, however, once you being to worry, your level of performance will drop significantly.

Individual Zones of optimal functioning Theory:

Each person has their own optimal performance level, This theory coincides with the U theory that too high of an arousal level will result in a low level of performance.

 The positive of this theory, is that in a team more than one person will begin to worry and their performance will drop, but there will be other players that will encourage them resulting in them feeling at ease. This will make them perform better knowing they have moral support from their team mates. The negative is that if you are not easily motivated if will be difficult for you to pick yourself up if you feel anxious and your performance drops.


Cristiano Ronaldo has the Drive theory. This is evident as he will perform depending on how he feels leading up to the game. This shows us that his arousal level was low as his performance was poor. Cristiano went seven games without scoring a goal, this is evidence that after the fourth game his motivation level was low and he found it difficult to pick himself up. On the other hand, throughout his playing career, Cristiano Ronaldo has proven to have a high arousal level as he has exceeded a lot of expectations and goals set for him. 

Symptons of Stress and Anxiety.

Looking further on from the post on causes of stress and anxiety, I will now look at the symptoms of stress and anxiety. There are three different symptoms of anxiety, These are:






Cognitive Anxiety:
Cognitive anxiety is more to relate with all the emotional and mental state dealing with anxiety. If you have cognitive anxiety you are most likely to have negative thoughts all the time, you'll be indecisions a lot you may even loss confidence and have poor concentration.






Somatic Anxiety:
This form of anxiety is related with the inner body reaction and feelings. If you feel this form of anxiety, your blood pressure would rise and you feel muscular tension. This is the opposite of cognitive anxiety.






Behavioural Anxiety:
Behavioural anxiety is the reaction to both cognitive and somatic anxiety. You will natural start biting your nails or you will be very fugitive and unable to keep still. This is all nervous behaviour, you may also feel this way due to feeling cautions.

Causes of Stress and Anxiety

There are numerous ways in which stress and anxiety can be caused, in this post I will look at a few ways in which stress can be built up and anxiety is caused.


Internal:
Stress and anxiety can build up from inside this can be due to not having enough sleep or by worrying about something too much. The constant thought that something may go wrong or right will make you anxious and this will further stress you out. Additionally, not speaking out to a friend or to a professional about what is worrying you can lead to depression. Overall, this will negatively effect your sporting performance as you will feel tied down with all the thoughts you are worrying about. Also, you will not be as concentrated as you would be if you were not anxious or stressed out.




External:
This is related to this things that are happening around you, if you are in a crowded place you may feel anxious that something bad could possibly happen, this can result in panic attacks this is because you cannot control what is happening. Stress can also be caused if you are with friends and one of them gets lost in the crowd, it will be stressful trying to find the person as there is so many people in the area. Being bullied can be both internal and external. This is because if you don't tell anyone that you are being bullied you will bottle it up inside. This can cause high levels of stress and anxiety as you will be conscious and worried to go out as you might see the person or people that are bullying you. Major life events can also cause stress and anxiety. Events such as a death in the family or finding out that a loved one may be terminally ill. The shock and devastation will make you constantly upset, stress will build up over time during the grieving period. This can effect your performance as the thought of the passed or suffering loved one will be on your mind and this will distract you from performing at your optimal best.




Occupational:
Pressures of having high expectations at work can be stressful as you will have good and bad days. Additionally, falling out with your coach or manager can be stressful as you will need to repair the bond that was broken. Anxiety is also a factor as you will think whether the coach will play you or not because of the fall out. Being injured will also cause stress. This is because you will want to take part in training and matches, this could push you to rush your recovery and further aggravated your injury. The stress will build up over time and may start to cause depression.




Sporting environment:
Like occupational stress, different sporting environment cause bring different levels of stress. Playing big games away from your home ground can be daunting as  the supporters will booing and hackling against you and your team. The reverse situation, if you're playing at your home ground, there will be a lot of pressure as the home fans will expect a great individual and team performance.




Personal:
We feel pressure when we what to do well and impress those that we care about such as our family and friends. You feel pressure as you don't want to let them down at anytime during the game or throughout your career. Additionally, there is pressure from the media and even potential sponsors. This can push an athlete to feel stress and this can cause them to be tense during the game.

Stress and Anxiety.

Stress -

The build up of high amounts of pressure and/or tension and a state of mental or emotional strain resulting from a pattern of negative, difficult or demanding circumstances.

There are two forms of stress, these are:

Distress: 

Distress is the bad form of stress, this form can result in an individual developing a lot of worry and anxiety. The gradual build up of this negative stress will begin to be adopted as the individuals lifestyle habit and will have negative impacts on the way they look at life. "Negative thoughts equal negative outcomes" this quote shows us that if you are constantly looking for negatives the result will never be positive.

Eustress:
Eustress is the good form of stress and refers to the optimal amount of stress which helps promote health and growth. Many times stressful events push us to perform to higher levels and excel this is eustress.

With the reputation and expectation that everyone has for Cristiano Ronaldo, there is a lot of pressure and stress he has to deal with. I think he uses stress and pressure to motivate him and push him to exceed more in his career. This is Eustress. Cristiano absorbs the pressure and puts it into his game to elevated his performances.

Anxiety -

Anxiety is associated when you encounter a negative emotional state that is the brought with nervousness or worry. Anxiety is the conscious feeling to something that may or may not happen in the future. There are two types of anxiety, these are:

Trait anxiety:
Trait anxiety refers to a general level of stress that is characteristic of an individual, that is, a trait related to personality. Trait anxiety varies according to how individuals have conditioned themselves to respond to and manage the stress.


State anxiety:
State anxiety can be defined as a temporary, ever-changing mood including fear, nervousness and discomfort due to different situations that are perceived as dangerous but once approached the perception is changed. There are two types of state anxiety,
- Cognitive: this is the amount you worry
-Somatic: your perception of the physiological changes that occur.

Cristiano Ronaldo has trait anxiety, this is because he can easily adapt to a situation in order to remain composed and to use the anxiety he feels to encourage him and the ambition to play well. 

Motivation Theories

Motivation Theories-


Achievement Motivation Theory:


This form of motivation comes from ones personality and is your drive to succeed. This statement was proposed by Atkinson in 1964.
People motivated in this way can be grouped into two categories:

  - NACH (need to achieve): These people are Driven for feelings of pride and  satisfaction. Overall theses people are Positive thinkers.


  - NAF (need to avoid failure): These people are driven to not feel ashamed or humiliated. These are negative thinkers.



Attribution Theory:

Attributions are reasons why we do things. They come under 3 categories:

-Controllable and uncontrollable -

Controllable theories are things that I am able to control such as my mental strength during a game that will motivate me to work harder. On the other hand, Uncontrollable theories are things that happen that can go against you performance, these are factors such as the weather or the condition of the football pitch.

-Internal and external -

Internal motivation theory is when I am the reason for the outcome. Having the ability to outwit my opponent and beat them.This also means I have the motivation from within me to accomplish my targets. External motivation is the opposite and is when your opponent is the reason for the outcome. Either they benefit your performance by playing poorly or they can make it much more difficult for the outcome to be positive.

-Stable and unstable -

Being stable means that I take responsibility for the outcome, whether it  positive or negative. Having the ability to do this portrays mental strength and this can elevated your performance in sport and in life. Unstable is always having an excuse for the outcome. Excuses like the referee was unfair or the playing surface was in horrible condition. This can negatively effect your performance by making you think you'll always be cheated against then you'll be know for always having excuses and always complaining.



Trait Theory:

Trait theory is a persons traits that determine their behaviour and their personality. If you're a motivated person off the playing field, you'll be even more motivated during matches and this can enhance your performance as you'll push yourself to the limit to exceed exceptions set by yourself and by your club. However, if you're not a motivated person then you'll struggle to be motivated on match day and it will negatively impact your performance.

Situational Theory:
Situational theory is when you are influenced and motivated by the situation you are in at that current time. If you are in a situation where you will can achieve a set goal, your motivation will be to work harder in order to accomplish this goal. On the contrast, if you are in a situation where it is impossible to win as your team have conceded 5 goal and there is only ten minutes left of the game, you will not have the motivation to work as hard as you did during the game.






Interactional Theory:
Interactional theory is a mix of your personality and the situation you are in. If you are shy and reserved as a person and shy away from big decisive tasks and you are placed centre stage (to take a cup winning penalty), you will be nervous and will lack the motivation to take the penalty with confidence. However, place someone that thrives off the big tasks to take this penalty, they will be highly motivated and will have the confidence that they will score and win the cup for their team.


I think Cristiano Ronaldo is motivated to Achieve goals and to progress his performance as an athlete. I think Cristiano is motivated in this way as he constantly wants to achieve greatness and hates losing. therefore I think this motivation type best suits him as he always wants to improve on his skills and develop his knowledge for the sport in order to minimise the chance of failure. In his "All access" interview it was said that by one of his coaches that " He (Cristiano Ronaldo) is always working 10x harder than any other footballer in his team on and off the pitch to develop his performance and to also work on keeping fit and healthy in order to play at his upmost best.

Motivation Types

Motivation Types.

• What is intrinsic motivation?  

Intrinsic motivation refers to behavior that is driven by internal rewards. This means the person is motivated and driven to be successful by things such as family, fans, self mastery and for the passion for what they do.

• What are examples of intrinsic motivation?

Examples of  intrinsic motivation is when an athlete is constantly training and working on their game in order to exceed the best they possibly can. Another example of intrinsic motivation is, if an athlete is playing in the starting squad week in, week out and are considered one of the best in the club and is then offered more money at a bigger club than they're at but to sit on the bench, the athlete would refuse the deal in order to keep playing matches/games.

• What is Extrinsic motivation?

Extrinsic motivation is when an athlete takes part in sport for the external rewards. This means the athlete is only motivated to achieve things such as money, trophies and records. 

• What are examples of extrinsic motivation?

Examples of extrinsic motivation is where an athlete engages in sport not for the passion but as a way to pass time. They will take part only to break records and for money. For example, if an athlete refuses to take part because they will not get paid, this is extrinsic motivation.





Cristiano Ronaldo is motivated both intrinsically and extrinsically. His passion for football has given him the possibility to achieve extrinsic rewards such as multiple trophies and additionally allowed for him to break and also set records withing the sport.

Positives of having these qualities are, by being intrinsically motivated he has enabled his skill and performance levels to draw in all the rewards wanted from someone that is intrinsically motivated such as the love and respect from family, friends and fans. however, Cristiano Ronaldo has received some extrinsic rewards due to being intrinsically motivated.

Negatives are, Cristiano Ronaldo is looked upon as being to arrogant and cocky because of his intrinsic motivation this can lead to a drop in performance level if the negativity is absorbed by the athlete. In addition, because of the high level of performance Cristiano Ronaldo is known to produce, if he does not perform well for a few games, he is once again looked upon as a footballer that is just in the professional sport to earn money and not play to his highest ability.