Push yourself
Daniel Simundza
Journal of Sports Economics, forthcoming
Abstract:
This article provides a novel answer to the question of why elite college football programs schedule so-called “cream puff” games against vastly inferior out-of-conference opponents. Using data on college football games from 2002 to 2010, I find that a team’s chances of winning are 5.3–15.6% greater in the game following their victory over a cream puff. In my preferred estimation, this “cream puff effect” is roughly half as large as the estimated home field advantage. I also show that the U.S. Today/Sagarin rating system, which I use to control for team abilities, penalizes teams for playing vastly inferior opponents. I devise two empirical strategies that deal with this potential problem and show that the cream puff effect is not simply an artifact of the rating system. These results contribute to the literature on dynamic contests by showing that not only does the timing of one’s efforts within a contest matter but so does the schedule of one’s opponents.
---------------------
The freedom to excel: Belief in free will predicts better academic performance
Gilad Feldman, Subramanya Prasad Chandrashekar & Kin Fai Ellick Wong
Personality and Individual Differences, February 2016, Pages 377–383
Abstract:
Increasing evidence supports the importance of beliefs in predicting positive outcomes in life. We examined the performance implications of the belief in free will as an abstract, philosophical belief that views the self as free from internal and external constraints and capable of choosing and directing one's own path. In Study 1 (N = 116, undergraduates), belief in free will was associated with higher performance on an academic proofreading task. In Study 2 (N = 614, undergraduates), we examined performance in real academic settings, and the belief in free will measured at the beginning of the semester predicted better course and semester grades at the end of the semester. Importantly, we found support for the distinctive contribution of the belief in free will in comparison to well-established predictors of academic performance — trait self-control and implicit theories. We conclude that individual differences in the endorsement of the belief in free will are a significant and unique predictor of academic achievement.
---------------------
Pictorial and mental arid landscape images reduce the motivation to change negative habits
Idit Shalev
Journal of Environmental Psychology, March 2016, Pages 30–39
Abstract:
Recent research has demonstrated that physical or environmental cues may signal the availability of resources for goal pursuit. However, the effects that pictorial and mental arid environments may have on one’s estimated levels of resources for habit change are not known. Three studies examined the idea that an arid landscape is associated with reduced subjective vitality and, consequently, low motivation for change. Consistent with our prediction, the first two studies indicated that viewing pictorial images or visualizing mental images of a desert (versus a landscape with water or a control) reduced participant confidence in their ability to change negative habits. The relations between the type of environment and the motivation for change were mediated by subjective vitality. The third study supported these findings, suggesting pictorial images of arid landscapes were perceived as more depleting and stressful than images of landscapes with water but less stressful and more attractive than urban environment images.
---------------------
Marcelo Vitor-Costa et al.
PLoS ONE, December 2015
Abstract:
The central nervous system seems to have an important role in fatigue and exercise tolerance. Novel noninvasive techniques of neuromodulation can provide insights on the relationship between brain function and exercise performance. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on physical performance and physiological and perceptual variables with regard to fatigue and exercise tolerance. Eleven physically active subjects participated in an incremental test on a cycle simulator to define peak power output. During 3 visits, the subjects experienced 3 stimulation conditions (anodal, cathodal, or sham tDCS—with an interval of at least 48 h between conditions) in a randomized, counterbalanced order to measure the effects of tDCS on time to exhaustion at 80% of peak power. Stimulation was administered before each test over 13 min at a current intensity of 2.0 mA. In each session, the Brunel Mood State questionnaire was given twice: after stimulation and after the time-to-exhaustion test. Further, during the tests, the electromyographic activity of the vastus lateralis and rectus femoris muscles, perceived exertion, and heart rate were recorded. RM-ANOVA showed that the subjects performed better during anodal primary motor cortex stimulation (491 ± 100 s) compared with cathodal stimulation (443 ± 11 s) and sham (407 ± 69 s). No significant difference was observed between the cathodal and sham conditions. The effect sizes confirmed the greater effect of anodal M1 tDCS (anodal x cathodal = 0.47; anodal x sham = 0.77; and cathodal x sham = 0.29). Magnitude-based inference suggested the anodal condition to be positive versus the cathodal and sham conditions. There were no differences among the three stimulation conditions in RPE (p = 0.07) or heart rate (p = 0.73). However, as hypothesized, RM- ANOVA revealed a main effect of time for the two variables (RPE and HR: p < 0.001). EMG activity also did not differ during the test accross the different conditions. We conclude that anodal tDCS increases exercise tolerance in a cycling-based, constant-load exercise test, performed at 80% of peak power. Performance was enhanced in the absence of changes in physiological and perceptual variables.
---------------------
Jooyoung Park & William Hedgcock
Journal of Consumer Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
This article examines the relationship between goal progress and construal level and its influence on subsequent goal pursuit. Using action identification theory, we hypothesized that greater perceived goal progress leads to higher-level construals and that the fit between goal progress and goal construal is more likely to enhance self-regulation than nonfit. Our findings indicate that, compared with lesser perceived goal progress, greater perceived goal progress induces higher-level construals (studies 1a - 2a). Moreover, as people perceive greater goal progress, abstract goal construal (i.e., “why”) is more likely to promote goal-consistent behavior than concrete goal construal (i.e., “how”; studies 2a - 2b). We also observed that this fit between goal progress and goal construal influences actual self-regulatory behavior (study 3).