When you succeed in running ââ,¬â€œ by producing a PB or winning a race or event, do you ascribe your success to your innate ability and the consistent effort you have put into your training? When you lose (I am sure you can come up with plenty of examples of what losing means!), do you tend to blame luck, fate, or even the weather?
If you answer ââ,¬Ëœyesââ,¬â,,¢ to both questions, then you are in proud possession of the ââ,¬Ëœself-serving biasââ,¬â,,¢ ââ,¬â€œ a tendency to attribute success to internal factors like ability and effort and failures to uncontrollable external causes. It is a perfectly normal way to protect your ego and maintain your self-esteem, but it is what sport psychologist Lee Crust refers to as a ââ,¬Ëœfaulty attributionââ,¬â,,¢ in the latest issue of Peak Performance Newsletter.
ââ,¬ËœAttributionsââ,¬â,,¢ are the explanations we give for good or bad performance. And it is important to get them right ââ,¬â€œ i.e. as objective as possible ââ,¬â€œ because they influence our emotions and behaviour, and hence our future performance.
ââ,¬ËœResearch suggests that athletesââ,¬â,,¢ methods of explaining their successes and failures are based upon their unique experiences and learned behaviors,ââ,¬â,,¢ Crust explains. ââ,¬ËœThe important point I am making is that perceptions and reality do not always match, and when emotions get thrown into the mix, perceptions and reality can be poles apart. From a psychological viewpoint, however, it is perceptions that matter most.ââ,¬â,,¢
From a motivational point of view, it seems healthiest to attribute both success and failure to effort or lack of it. Crustââ,¬â,,¢s advice to coaches is that if, for example, they hear one of their players attributing a winning, technically correct volley in tennis to luck, they should correct this perception straight away by drawing attention to the effort and practice that has led up to this outcome. Correcting such an attribution can help performers learn to re-attribute success by acknowledging that improvements are down to effort not luck and this, in turn, enhances motivation.
Conversely, re-attributing failure to lack of effort rather than a lack of intrinsic ability is likely to reduce performance declines after failure. Crust adds: ââ,¬ËœPay particular attention to athletes who are self-blaming and tend to inaccurately attribute their failure to internal and stable factors, such as a lack of ability or physical capacity. In such cases you may need to correct these attributions and make the athletes aware that problems can be solved and improvements are possible, since otherwise a negative emotional state known as ââ,¬Å"learned helplessnessââ,¬Â can ensue.
Crustââ,¬â,,¢s advice to runners is simple. After important losses, take some time to reflect on what happened, seeking the advice of people you trust to confirm or challenge your attributions, then use those setbacks as springboards to improvement. Reflect on wins in the same way ââ,¬â€œ but be careful to avoid being over-confident about successes, which may well have been influenced by factors beyond your ability and effort.
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