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.