The experience of arousal: a new basis for studying arousal effects in sport

Sports psychologists have for some time put forward the inverted-U-hypothesis as a useful working model of the relationship between arousal and performance. Although some emphasis in the sports psychology literature has been placed on the limitations of the hypothesis, generally the notion of an optimal level of arousal has been well received. A few authors have been less tolerant of the arguments put forward in the inverted-U-hypothesis and the restrictions of its theoretical stance. Sports psychologists have been slow to suggest or adopt diverse theoretical perspectives and consequently little real progress has been made. The danger is that this approach has become widely accepted almost without question. This review paper attempts to sum up the current position and, based on recent work, recommend alternative interpretations of arousal effects in sport.