Motivation and Sexual Selection

Normal folk, who earn less than £100,000 a week, often query whether it is possible for footballers to remain motivated when they earn such vast amounts of money. When a footballer has enough money to buy everything they could possibly want, why would they be motivated to keep working for more?

This is a very narrow view of human motivation: money is not just about buying goods; it is the most pertinent contemporary symbol of biological fitness. Our forefathers survived and reproduced because they were fitter and had more resources than other tribe members. There is, therefore, no absolute level of resource above which we will be satisfied and therefore less inclined to strive to acquire more. Needs and wants are relative and thus mutable entities: what is important is having greater power and status than our immediate rivals so that these distinguishing features attract sexual interest. This means we compete with those who inhabit a similar ecological niche: a footballer on £50,000 a week is likely to feel hard-done-by if a colleague of similar ability is receiving £60,000 a week.

We are still shaped by the reproductive imperatives of our ancestors: for example, sexual selection involves intrasexual selection in which males compete with one another to gain access to females. Sport is a modern format which enables the human expression of intrasexual selection. Professional footballers compete with rivals on the pitch to demonstrate their high level of biological fitness and they are very well rewarded for these displays. Females will perceive that a male competing at the highest level in a professional sport has good genes, so can provide high quality offspring via intercourse, and will also recognize that they have ample resources to invest in their progeny.

England players do not receive significant amounts of money to play international football; certainly not in comparison with what they receive from their clubs. This might mean (if money was a motivating factor as an end in itself) that they would be less inclined to perform to a high level for their country. International tournaments, however, reach a very large global audience which expands the scope for a footballer’s flamboyant on-pitch display to be perceived and, accordingly, for their profile to be enhanced. A good performance in an international tournament can therefore raise the player’s profile and value; therefore, motivation should actually be greater at international level.

The charge had often been levelled at England players, after they had put in another stilted display, that their motivation was low. This was not because they were excessively wealthy and indifferent; it was because of the greater possibility of vilification when playing for the national side. Playing for their club sides the players received respect and sometimes adoration, but for their country they merely received criticism. Players need to feel that their status will increase from playing for their country, not decrease, for their motivation levels to be sustained. The good run of form England have attained under Fabio Capello has meant that the players are now more likely to receive acclaim when playing internationals. This has led to a virtuous circle in which motivation and results have improved.

The pay packet is only a dependent variable; it’s the beautiful wife or girlfriend watching from the stand that’s important. So don’t boo when Rio Ferdinand passes straight to an opposition forward; it will only make him feel less sexually attractive and, as a corollary, play worse.