The drive theory of motivation states that individuals take certain actions in order to quench the internal tension or arousal arising from some needs being unmet. Desires such as thirst and hunger are behaviours that can be explained by the drive theory, individuals eat because of the feeling or tension caused by hunger. On the other hand, contrary to the drive theory of motivation which explains the actions of individuals as an attempt to quench some internal tension, sexual desires increases internal tension rather than reduce it, thus, the drive theory cannot explain this phenomenon. Arousal theory also known as activation theory can be used to explain sexual activity. Arousal theory suggest that individuals are motivated to carry out certain actions so as to maintain certain levels of physiological arousal which varies among individuals.
