Achievers falter under pressure?
Ever wondered why some top achievers sometimes falter in crucial situations? It’s because they worry too much about the success that makes them choke in anxiety-inducing circumstances, a new study has claimed.
The University of Chicago study found that top achievers are compromise their cognitive horsepower — the working memory in the brain that allows one to hold information on mind while doing something else at the same time — by worrying too much about their success. “They (achievers) feel a lot of pressure to succeed because they have high expectations, but also because they normally rely heavily on working memory that is really compromised under stress,” said lead researcher Sian Beilock, an associate professor of psychology.
Although working memory is important for navigating tough reasoning tasks, it is not always optimal to rely on it, Beilock said.
In nerve-racking situations, she said, these accomplished individuals try to manage every little nuance to insure that they come out on top, however, this may result in a negative outcome. “If you are doing a skill that is better left on autopilot, maybe hitting a putt that we have made a thousand times in the past or giving a speech that we have memorised completely, that kind of control, trying to dissect every word or step can really backfire,” Beilock told LiveScience.
Essentially there’s not enough brainpower to go around, and so something has to give, she said. Beilock also pointed out that choking can also be attributed to stereotype threats or internalising negative stereotypes that can affect outcomes in academic and athletic situations.
Post new comment