11.07.07
The Psychology of Confidence
I came across this great post about performance and how it’s affected by self-confidence and anxiety. The writer is a friend of mine and he relates the topic to trading, but it certainly has parallels with other performance fields (like running). Here’s a quote from the article about an interesting study:
One interesting study asked students to toss nerf balls into a garbage can. Half the students received negative feedback prior to the task; the other half received positive feedback. The negative feedback group performed significantly worse than the positive feedback group. Think about how
marketsraces always give us feedback about ourpositionsfitness and how this might affect our state levels of self-confidence, anxiety–and ultimately performance.
Self confidence is something I have no problems with in most areas of my life ;-), but as I get older and running becomes less of a priority it takes more and more of an effort to channel experience into self-confidence. Take my race at the Pumpkin Run. It was a poor performance, but I was able to run a second loop right afterwards in a respectable time along with BrockStar. In previous times this would be enough to give me some confidence to take away from the experience. Now I’m struggling to focus on the positive aspects of that experience.
Hopefully more positive experiences soon will right my ship.
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Diana said,
November 7, 2007 at 9:40 pm
Dave, that is so true. A little self-confidence can go a long way. I’ve found that I can be at the same fitness level, but having self-confidence will make a huge difference in my race performances and allows me to believe that I can push harder and it will be okay. I wish there were an easy way to regain it once it’s been lost…
Tori said,
November 8, 2007 at 11:59 am
I ditto this whole conversational thread. It’s amazing what confidence in your abilities/self can do for your racing and training overall. I have struggled since graduating with my own confidence and thus my racing and training performances have felt the repercussions.
For me knowing and trusting my own ability, really plays a huge role in my running because really long distance racing has much more to do with the mental state and mind than people think or give credit for. My mental state is also reflective in my body (thus my stance, stride, alignment) all which significantly can impact my race and performance.
I aim so much to get back to the way I felt in Boston because it seems to help me improve my running- and is on reason why I love visiting Beantown so much because it reminds me and then I try to take that back here and keep that mental state and confidence and take my running up another level.
Has anyone ever done any formal studies or research on this type of connection?
Tom said,
November 8, 2007 at 5:39 pm
Yeah, I am doing research on a similar concept. The research I am doing is on a concept called “perceived self-efficacy.” It deals with your belief about your ability to produce a specific result/performance (sounds like confidence to me).
This “perceived self-efficacy” concept is pretty consistent with what Dave wrote about, i.e., that your level of confidence (found in your feelings, thoughts, motivations, and behavior) has a measurable effect on your performance of a particular activity.
According to the theory, you can improve your “confidence” by (1) first-hand experience of achieving success (2) seeing people similar to yourself achieve success (training partners?), (3) verbal persuasion that you possess the ability to achieve success (coaching?), and (4) reducing your stress and altering your negative outlook on the likelihood of achieving success.
It seems that if you want to run your best, you need to find a way to gain confidence in your running ability. Apparently you can increase your confidence by eliminating self-doubt, and by focusing on your best workouts, the successes of your teammates, and positive feedback you receive from Joan. I know, it sounds way easier than it really is.
If you are interested in reading more on this topic (heavily slanted toward academic success), look up the work of Albert Bandura of Stanford University (and just follow the research trail).
joan said,
November 8, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Thanks for the lead, Tom.
I did some poking around (googling around) and found these three Bandura bullets to be significant:
Bandura’s recommendations to those who suffer from poor self-concepts come straight from the three steps of self-regulation:
1. Regarding self-observation — know thyself! Make sure you have an accurate picture of your behavior.
2. Regarding standards — make sure your standards aren’t set too high. Don’t set yourself up for failure! Standards that are too low, on the other hand, are meaningless.
3. Regarding self-response — use self-rewards, not self-punishments. Celebrate your victories, don’t dwell on your failures.
Diana said,
November 8, 2007 at 11:04 pm
Tom, I’d be interested to hear more about your research. I’m one of those rare interdisciplinary psych people.