Playing to win or playing not to lose
Playing to to win or playing not to lose at first read almost seems like they are the same thing. The difference in the mindset of these two positions activate very different motivational bases greatly impacting our behavior and the outcome.
The world of professional sports is an extremely high pressure environment. Few situations become more high pressure and intense than soccer penalty kick shootouts in the knockout rounds of World Cup play. Researchers Gier Jordet and Esther Hartman studied conversion rates of penalty kickers who were taking the final shot in a shootout in the following scenarios:
the kicker's team was down a goal and needed a goal to tie. A miss would result in a loss, and
The kicker's team was tied, a miss would not result in a loss but a goal would result in a win.
They found that in the first scenario the conversion rate was 62% and in the second scenario the conversion rate was 92%. A 30% difference that resulted simply from the mindset or as Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson would say, position of focus. Similar results were found with NBA free throw percentages when the game is tied as opposed to when a player's team is behind.
We use these two mindsets, promotion or prevention, when we approach our goals and make decisions in our lives. Although we may be initially more prone to one mindset than the other, we can train ourselves to apply one mindset more so than the other when we become mindful of this. These two mindsets are needed and have their place in our lives. Our challenge in achieving our goals is knowing when to apply the proper mindset to the proper situation. Doing so can have us achieving our goals at a substantially higher rate than we currently are.
The world of professional sports is an extremely high pressure environment. Few situations become more high pressure and intense than soccer penalty kick shootouts in the knockout rounds of World Cup play. Researchers Gier Jordet and Esther Hartman studied conversion rates of penalty kickers who were taking the final shot in a shootout in the following scenarios:
the kicker's team was down a goal and needed a goal to tie. A miss would result in a loss, and
The kicker's team was tied, a miss would not result in a loss but a goal would result in a win.
They found that in the first scenario the conversion rate was 62% and in the second scenario the conversion rate was 92%. A 30% difference that resulted simply from the mindset or as Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson would say, position of focus. Similar results were found with NBA free throw percentages when the game is tied as opposed to when a player's team is behind.
We use these two mindsets, promotion or prevention, when we approach our goals and make decisions in our lives. Although we may be initially more prone to one mindset than the other, we can train ourselves to apply one mindset more so than the other when we become mindful of this. These two mindsets are needed and have their place in our lives. Our challenge in achieving our goals is knowing when to apply the proper mindset to the proper situation. Doing so can have us achieving our goals at a substantially higher rate than we currently are.
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