Being slightly afraid of the future is good for performance, researchers say
REMINDERS about inevitable doom, gloom and death immediately before competition can increase an athlete’s desire for success, a study has found.
Uri Lifshin, a researcher in the department of psychology at the University of Arizona, found that basketball players performed better during a game when thoughts of doom were provoked beforehand, a reaction that might be linked to what Lifshin described as the “terror management theory”, an instinctive buffer against anxiety.
Athletes participating in his trial completed one of two questionnaires – the first asking about their feelings surrounding death, the other asking about their feelings related to basketball. Afterwards, the subjects engaged in a number of “delay” tasks, which enabled thoughts of death to work subconsciously. They then played basketball. Compared with those who answered questions about their sport, subjects who answered questions about death saw a 20% improvement in overall performance, as well as a 40% improvement in personal performance.
“When we’re threatened with death, we’re motivated to regain that protective sense of self-esteem, and when you like basketball and you’re out on the basketball court, winning and performing well is the ultimate way to gain self-esteem,” Lifshin said.
Leggete l'articolo completo e molti altri in questo numero di
AW – Athletics Weekly Magazine
Opzioni di acquisto di seguito
Se il problema è vostro,
Accesso per leggere subito l'articolo completo.
Singolo numero digitale
17/11/2016
Questo numero e altri numeri arretrati non sono inclusi in un nuovo
abbonamento. Gli abbonamenti comprendono l'ultimo numero regolare e i nuovi numeri pubblicati durante l'abbonamento. AW – Athletics Weekly Magazine
Abbonamento digitale annuale
€59,99
fatturati annualmente
Abbonamento digitale di 6 mesi
€35,99
fatturati due volte l'anno