The Inverted-U Hypothesis: How Arousal Level Affects Athletic Performance
Updated: 4 days ago
Anyone who has competed knows the two ways to lose before the start: turning up flat and disengaged, or so wound up that the hands shake and the plan evaporates. The inverted-U hypothesis is the century-old idea that formalises this experience: performance rises with arousal up to a point, then falls as arousal keeps climbing. It is simple enough to draw on a napkin, which is why it has survived, and simple enough to be wrong in important ways, which is why sport psychology has spent decades refining it. This article looks at the original idea, the models that replaced or extended it, and what a large recent dataset says about whether the curve is real.
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