New research finds that scientists who are known for their hard work, such as Thomas Edison, are more motivating than scientists who are viewed as naturally brilliant.

Penn State researchers performed a series of studies and discovered young people were more motivated by scientists whose success was associated with effort than those whose success was attributed to exceptional intelligence. The finding held true even if the mentor was a genius such as Albert Einstein.

Danfei Hu, a doctoral student at Penn State, and Dr. Janet N. Ahn, an assistant professor of psychology at William Paterson University, believe their findings will help dispel certain myths about what it takes to succeed in science. The study appears in the journal, Basic and Applied Social Psychology.

“There’s a misleading message out there that says you have to be a genius in order to be a scientist,” Hu said. “This just isn’t true and may be a big factor in deterring people from pursuing science and missing out on a great career.

“Struggling is a normal part of doing science and exceptional talent is not the sole prerequisite for succeeding in science. It’s important we help spread this message in science education.”

According to the researchers, there is concern in the science community with the number of students who pursue careers in science during school only to drop out from those career paths once they graduate from college. Researchers have coined this phenomenon as the “leaking STEM pipeline.”

To help solve the problem, Hu and Ahn wanted to research role modeling, which gives aspiring scientists specific goals, behaviors or strategies they can mimic. But while previous studies have examined qualities that make role models effective, Hu and Ahn were curious about whether the aspiring scientists’ own beliefs about potential role models had an effect on their motivation.

“The attributions people make of others’ success are important because those views could significantly impact whether they believe they, too, can succeed,” Ahn said. “We were curious about whether aspiring scientists’ beliefs about what contributed to the success of established scientists would influence their own motivation.”

The researchers performed three studies with 176, 162 and 288 participants in each, respectively. In the first study, all participants read the same story about common struggles a scientist encountered in their science career. However, half were told the story was about Einstein, while half believed it was about Thomas Edison.

Despite the stories being the same, participants were more likely to believe natural brilliance was the reason for Einstein’s success. Additionally, the participants who believed the story was about Edison were more motivated to complete a series of math problems.

“This confirmed that people generally seem to view Einstein as a genius, with his success commonly linked to extraordinary talent,” Hu said. “Edison, on the other hand, is known for failing more than 1,000 times when trying to create the light bulb, and his success is usually linked to his persistence and diligence.”

In the second study, participants once again read a story about a struggling scientist, but while one half of the sample was told it was about Einstein, the other half was told it was about fictional scientist Mark Johnson, who was previously unfamiliar to them.

Compared to those believing they were reading about Einstein, participants who read about Mark Johnson were less likely to think exceptional talent was necessary for success and more likely to perform better on a series of math problems.

Finally, the researchers wanted to perform a final study to see if people simply felt demotivated in comparison to Einstein or if Edison and an unknown scientist could boost participants’ motivation.

In the third study, the researchers followed the same procedure as the previous two experiments with one change: The participants were randomly assigned to read a story about an unknown scientist, Einstein, or Edison. Compared to the unknown scientist, Edison motivated participants while Einstein demotivated them.

“The combined results suggest that when you assume that someone’s success is linked to effort, that is more motivating than hearing about a genius’s predestined success story,” Hu said. “Knowing that something great can be achieved through hard work and effort, that message is much more inspiring.”

Hu and Ahn both believe that in addition to providing insight for how to enhance scientists’ effectiveness as role models, the findings can also be used to help optimize science education for students of all ages.

“This information can help shape the language we use in textbooks and lesson plans and the public discourse regarding what it takes to succeed in science,” Hu said.

“Young people are always trying to find inspiration from and mimic the people around them. If we can send the message that struggling for success is normal, that could be incredibly beneficial.”

Source: Penn State/EurekAlert

This is the 4th part of our 4 part series on Willpower, Do we need it? If so, How do we strengthen it?

In answering the questions laid out in part one of our 4-part series I’ve suggested that planning, preparation, and discipline are the vital behaviours required to avoiding finding ourselves in situations where we need to rely on willpower, the third ingredient in behaviour change. We’ve looked at what willpower is, how it differs from motivation, and strategies to strengthen it when life throws us a curveball and our plans go awry.

Time now to turn to Tired, the final physiological state in our acronym H.A.L.T., that can so negatively impact our plans for change. With tired, we are talking lack of sleep and sleep is an interesting state of being, some of us need less, some more, but we all need it because without it we die. At least all the rats in the long-term sleep deprivation studies that I looked at did. I’ll spare you the details of just how they kept those little critters awake, but in just two weeks without any sleep the rat’s bodies broke down, stopped working, and they perished.

Without adequate amounts of sleep our bodies and our brains don’t function well. In short term sleep deprivation studies, researchers have found that after as little as 24 hours without sleep our blood pressure rises, followed by chaotic fluctuations to our metabolism which result in intense cravings for carbohydrates – and we’re not talking long grained-brown rice, but foods composed of high fat, high glycemic carbohydrate. Not exactly an ideal situation if you’re looking to lose some weight, but that aside, let’s take a closer look at that time period of 24 hours without sleep. If I’m normally awake for 15 – 17 hours a day, with only a 30% extension, my mind and body begin to behave erratically, and I lose the ability to function effectively. Now, it’s not often that I extend my waking hours by 30% (been a while since I pulled an all-nighter) but it appears that the same negative side effects occur when the waking hours are extended continually by as little as 5%, or about an hour a day.

So, how much sleep do I need? Unfortunately, there’s no easy answer because it depends on age, gender, and your unique genetic profile. Some of us are larks, early risers who function best in the day, and some of us are owls, people whose productivity is best in the evening, some need more and others less, but given the modern environment of cellphones, televisions and artificial light it’s safe to say that most of us are at least mildly sleep deprived. This is a bad place to be when we’re trying to change our health or our body composition because as I said earlier chronic sleep deprivation messes with our health and plays havoc with both our metabolism and our brain.

I can’t stress how important sleep is when trying to lose weight, not enough sleep increases our appetite for garbage carbohydrates, reduces our ability to resist these cravings and slows our metabolism, a condition where no amount of exercise or calorie reduction will work. This is a recipe for certain failure. By losing as little as an hour of sleep a day I could create a situation that might make my goal an impossibility and even worse, I might establish a core belief that “I’m a failure” (back to part 3) when it’s the situation and not me that’s the issue.

It’s Vital, I get it, but how do I improve the quality and duration of my sleep?

When I was younger, I’d say goodnight, put my head on the pillow and out! Now, not so much. So, I can talk about both the research and what I’ve done to improve my adventures in dreamland. (If you’re interested in this topic, Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep, by David K. Randall is the best one I’ve read). The first thing I do is: keep it cold. We’re all different and I sleep hot! I keep my room cold: meat-locker, ice-box-cold, and since adjusting the temperature to suit me I’ve improved my sleeping tremendously. But what if your significant other likes it warm? A giant fuzzy blanket and flannel sheets warm? Well, there are innovative products that cool one side of the bed and warm the other that can solve that issue, unfortunately this didn’t solve the issue of my snoring or mild sleep apnea, but if co-sleeping is important to you and you’ve got some temperature discrepancies, then it’s well worth the investment.

Having tried a number of different strategies over the years to help improve both mine and my clients sleep, I’ve recently turned to light, putting two different lamps to the test, one a desktop lamp intended to simulate sunlight and improve energy and mood and the other an alarm clock, shaped like an orb that starts out dull red and simulates the rising sun, also intended to improve daytime energy and disposition. I get up very early, typically have a long day and I felt that elevating both my energy and my mood would help with productivity and eventually lead to falling asleep earlier and easier.

Looking at the first lamp, there a number of different studies that support the use of a SAD (now they call them HAPPY, much better marketing) Seasonal Affective Disorder lamp. The one I use is a 10,000 Lux rectangular desktop lamp that I got from Costco online. I keep it angled on the desk beside me and I use it whenever I’m doing admin and on my computer. Now, some of these studies are funded by the product manufacturer so it’s easy to dispute their veracity, but I like the lamp. I don’t care if it’s placebo, or the simulated sunlight striking my pineal gland, all I care about is the effect and I feel better and more energetic on the days that I use it.

Before I go further, my intention is to simply share my experiences working with others and myself, these are not double-blind, randomized, controlled studies, just my personal evaluation and I profit in no way from these products. In fact, I haven’t provided hyperlinks or even the name of the lamps I use! That said, the second light-based strategy I’m currently employing is an alarm clock that simulates the sun, it starts out a dull red and over the course of 20 minutes it changes colour to a brilliant, bright white. I absolutely love waking to a pseudo-sunrise and not the noise of an alarm.

Sleep (or the lack of) has become a “hot” health topic over the last few years. For good reason. The correlations between chronic sleep deprivation, the advent of artificial light, and a host of health issues are clear and while “proof” that obesity, decreased libido, elevated blood pressure, even cancer are caused by our modern “extended hours” lifestyle has yet to be established, getting some quality sleep and feeling energized is an excellent place to start any plan for change.

Willpower. The most important thing to remember about willpower is to do our very best to be disciplined, plan ahead, and to never have to rely on our internal ability to resist! Strategizing and ensuring that we avoid the conditions described in the acronym H.A.L.T. will not only keep us strong for emergencies when we do need to rely on our willpower it will also improve our mental and physical health. See you next time when we look at the final component of behaviour change – Motivation.

Missed part 1 to 3?

Willpower versus motivation

Willpower versus motivation, part 2

Willpower versus motivation, part 3

ABOUT SEAN HAWTHORNE:

Sean Hawthorne is the owner and operator of OneLife Health and Wellness, Kelowna’s first and longest running private, personal training facility. While working in Dubai, UAE as a Contracts and Project Manager, Sean decided to leave his successful career in Civil Engineering Technology and pursue his passion for health, fitness and helping others achieve their goals. He returned to Canada in 2001, taking formal education in Exercise Science and starting his career in the field of health and fitness. Working in collaboration with their clients, Sean and his team of health and fitness professionals strive to continually improve their skills and to help everyone reach their goals.

Contact Sean:

1-life.ca/

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“We are changing the mindset of the people in Addo, we give them hope. Just seeing that Kaizer Chiefs are here, has such an impact,” reflects the club’s Head of Scouting, Walter Steenbok on last week’s seven-day San Miguel and Kaizer Chiefs Soccer Community Project.

A four-day soccer clinic started on Monday morning, 2 March. Four teams trained in the morning, while four others had a run in the afternoon.

The clinics were run by Steenbok, assisted by Donald ‘Ace’ Khuse and fitness coach, Jamie Schultz.

CSI activations were held at the Moses Mabida High School (Kirkwood) and the Samkelwe High School (Addo) on Friday morning, 6 March. Amakhosi donated full playing kits to both schools to encourage participation in football for the learners.

Khuse spoke at the school in Kirkwood, while former Glamour Boy, Patrick Mayo gave a motivational talk to the pupils in Addo.

“It was wonderful to see how the kids listened,” Mayo reflected. “You could see that they are very eager to learn, which will help them to succeed in life, independent of what they want to do.”

Successful trials were held for the Under-15s on Friday and for the Under-17s on Sunday morning.

The football tournament was held on Saturday. The exciting final resulted in a 1-0 win of Sun Orange over Addo Research. The winner was scored by goalkeeper Lubalalo Tau from a free-kick in the first half.

Tau not only knows how to find the back of the net; he also clearly knows how to keep the ball out of his own goal. As a result, he was not only named as the Goalkeeper of the Tournament, but also as the Player of the Tournament.

“This is like a dream come true,” reflected the 20-year-old, before talking about his habit of taking the free-kicks. “I started working on taking free-kicks a few years back. I just love to take them.”

It was for the second time that Kaizer Chiefs and San Miguel that this weeklong community project took place.

San Miguel South Africa has been running a soccer community project, for their employees, ahead of the annual picking season since 2012.

The multinational citrus company is based in Addo. With headquarters in Argentina, they are leaders in the production, distribution and sale of fresh fruit and food products derived from citrus in the South Hemisphere.

“The impact this project has on the community is fantastic,” comments San Miguel’s Marketing, Communication and CSR officer, Armand van der Merwe.

“Compared to last year, we now added trials for the Under-15s and included the visits to the two schools, which was about motivating the kids to follow their dreams.

“The San Miguel and Kaizer Chiefs Soccer Community Project is not only about soccer, it’s also a medium to talk with the youngsters about, for example, life skills.

“To have coaches, the KCTV crew, a photographer… everybody felt important, it gives motivation and confidence.”

Chiefs’ Head of Scouting, Steenbok, is as enthusiastic: “The clinics started from mass development (clinics) to talent identification (trials). The school visits were very encouraging. The tournament matches were very competitive, but at the same time peaceful.

“Our whole involvement in this community project shows that Kaizer Chiefs are a caring club.”