Close
Have you ever noticed you perform better when you are a little bitnervous? For example, you might perform better at an athletic event you are excited about participating in or do better on an exam if you are anxious about your score.
The Yerkes-Dodson law in psychology suggests elevated arousal levels can improve performance. Keep reading to learn why a little bit of stress can actually help you perform your best.
How the Law Works
The Yerkes-Dodson Law suggests there is a relationship between performance and arousal. Increased arousal can help improve performance up to a certain point. At the point when arousal becomes excessive, performance diminishes.
Theexperimentdemonstrated that increasing stress andarousal levelscan help focus motivation andattentionon the task at hand, but only up to a certain point.
The anxiety you experience before an exam is one example of how the Yerkes-Dodson Law operates. An optimal level of stress can help you focus on the test and remember the information you studied, but too muchtest anxietycan impair your ability toconcentrateand make it more difficult torememberthe correct answers.
Athletic performance offers another great example of the Yerkes-Dodson Law. When a player is poised to make an important move, like making a basket during a basketball game, an ideal level of arousal can sharpen their performance and enable them to make the shot. When a player getstoo stressed out, however, they may get nervous and miss the shot instead.
How Arousal Theory of Motivation Works
Observations
So, how do you determine what arousal level makes you perform best? It is key to remember optimal arousal levels vary from one situation to the next.
If your arousal levels are too low, you might find yourself drifting off or even falling asleep before you get started on the assignment. Arousal levels that are too high can also be problematic, as they may make it difficult to concentrate long enough to complete the task.
Too much and too little arousal can also affect athletic performance. While a basketball or baseball player might need to control excessive arousal to concentrate on successfully performing complex plays, a track sprinter might rely on high arousal levels to motivate peak performance.
In such cases, the type of task and complexity of the task play a role in determining the optimal levels of arousal.
How Social Facilitation Can Improve Your Performance
2 Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Rowland DL, van Lankveld JJDM.Anxiety and performance in sex, sport, and stage: Identifying common ground.Front Psychol.2019;10:1615. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01615
Meet Our Review Board
Share Feedback
Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?HelpfulReport an ErrorOtherSubmit
Was this page helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
What is your feedback?HelpfulReport an ErrorOtherSubmit
What is your feedback?
