How do arousal levels affect performance

They aim to prepare athletes psychologically for competition and enable them to deal with both competition and training. They may help athletes to deal with the stressful and demanding aspects of their professional, help coaches build team cohesiveness, help athletes deal with the emotional consequences of injuries and so on.

Exercise psychologists are mainly interested with the application of psychology to exercise participation and motivating the general public.

This may include encouraging people to see the benefits of exercise, encouraging individuals to set goals. Both anxiety and arousal are not only present, but are important in competitive sport.

Proper mental preparation for sport should involve regulation of both anxiety and arousal regulation NOT elimination. Arousal may be caused by either positive or negative emotions. State Anxiety often abbreviated as A-state is a temporary thing — anxiety that fluctuates over time. It involves a person having a sense of apprehension or tension, usually because of a particular perception that the person has about a situation in the near future.

Trait Anxiety often abbreviated as A-trait is a relatively stable disposition that a person has, frequently depicted as a personality trait. For example, if we are driving and someone nearly hits us — we will become anxiety, we will have an intense anxiety reaction. This is normal.

However, some people will feel anxious more often and inappropriately. For example, someone may nearly hit their car and they become so anxious they have to stop driving for a period of time. As you can imagine, trait anxiety can have a big effect on athletic performance.

Athletes with high-trait anxiety are more likely to focus on the chance of failure. They see situations as more threatening or dangerous, and are more likely to focus on negative possibilities, past failures, mishaps and consequences of failure. On the other hand, athletes with low-trait anxiety are more likely to focus on success. They respond more effectively to mistakes and stress, and are able to focus on the current situation.

Instead of being challenged by their mistakes, they are more likely to be motivated by them to work harder. This allows athletes with low-trait anxiety to recover better physically and emotionally after a mistake, allowing them to get back into the game faster, and focus on a future event.

Physiology of Anxiety The bodily reactions to an anxiety stimulus result from the action of the sympathetic nervous system, and from the effects of the hormone epinephrine popularly known as adrenaline ; secreted by the adrenal glands. This is known as the somatic reaction to stress. The following reactions occur: 1.

The rate and depth of breathing increase 2. There is an increase in heart rate and the amount of blood pumped out with each beat. Blood pressure increases. Less blood goes to the internal organs, and more to the muscles. The liver releases extra blood sugar to supply energy. Production of saliva in the mouth decreases; and supply of mucus in respiratory passages decreases.

The pupils of the eyes dilate, letting in more light. The galvanic skin response or GSR changes in electrical resistance of the skin increases. There are many theories of motivation , one of which focuses on arousal levels. The arousal theory of motivation suggests that people are driven to perform actions in order to maintain an optimum level of physiological arousal.

What exactly is the optimal level of motivation? Well, it varies from one individual to the next. Some people may require a higher level of arousal, which might motivate them to seek out exciting and stimulating activities. Other people may do better with much lower arousal levels, so they might feel compelled to seek out soothing and relaxing activities.

According to the arousal theory of motivation, each person has a unique arousal level that is right for them. When our arousal levels drop below these personalized optimal levels, we seek some sort of stimulation to elevate them.

For example, if our levels drop too low we might seek stimulation by going out to a nightclub with friends. If these levels become too elevated and we become overstimulated, we might be motivated to select a relaxing activity such as going for a walk or taking a nap. One of the key assumptions of the arousal theory is that we are motivated to pursue actions that help us maintain an ideal balance.

When we become overly aroused, we seek soothing activities that help calm and relax us. If we become bored, we head in search of more invigorating activities that will energize and arouse us. It's all about striking the right balance, but that balance is unique to each individual. Arousal theory shares some commonalities with drive-reduction theory. But instead of focusing on reducing tension, arousal theory suggests that we are motivated to maintain an ideal level of arousal.

There are several features of the arousal theory of motivation that distinguish this line of thinking. Optimal arousal levels vary from one individual to the next. There are many factors that might influence each person's optimal arousal levels, including genetics, experience, and current mood. Your arousal preferences, in general, may be specified by your genetic makeup, but environmental factors can also play a role in how you are feeling at any given moment.

One person may have very low arousal needs while another individual might require very high levels. The person with low arousal needs might be motivated to pursue simple activities such as crocheting or watching a movie in order to maintain their arousal levels.

The individual with high arousal needs, on the other hand, might be motivated to seek risky or thrilling activities such as motorcycle racing or skydiving in order to maintain his or her ideal levels. Drive reduction theory became popular during the s and s as a way to explain behavior and motivation.

Inverted U hypothesis proposes a relationship between arousal and performance in a symmetrical inverted U. Increases in arousal will result in the increase of performance, up to a point optimal arousal beyond which further arousal is dysfunctional to the outcome of performance.

Individual Zones of Optimal Functioning IZOF takes into account that people have different levels of anxiety and arousal that are unique in making them perform at their best. Some people perform their best with low anxiety, some with a medium amount and others with a high amount.

This theory distinguishes between somatic and cognitive anxiety: Cognitive anxiety represents the mental component of anxiety and is caused by negative expectations about success or about negative self-evaluation.

Thus, cognitive anxiety is worrying and negative thoughts. Somatic anxiety reflects physiological elements of the anxiety that develops directly from autonomic arousal. The theory makes two predictions: 1.

There is a negative linear relationship between cognitive anxiety and performance 2.