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Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "
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25.12.2011 |
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There's a price to pay for persistence
Although everyone would have us believe that persistence is a good characteristic, psychologists at the Ruppin Academic Center in Israel are of a different opinion. They say that persistence is neither good nor bad. Persistent people may well achieve things where others give up, but they pay a high price for this character trait.
The big difference between persistent and non-persistent people becomes apparent when there is no reward. Persistent people go on; the non-persistent give up.
Persistent people are also perfectionists. They want to get the best out of themselves and are not easily satisfied. This chronic dissatisfaction also increases the likelihood of anxiety, compulsive disorders and depression, say psychologists.
This theory inspired the psychologists at the Ruppin Academic Center in Israel to perform the study that will soon be published in the Journal of Affective Disorders. 142 women and 143 men aged between 40 and 89 took part in the study.
The researchers discovered that other psychological attributes gave persistent people protection from their negative emotions.
Those who were calm and did not get frustrated were less troubled by negative emotions. These individuals had a low score for the characteristic that psychologists call Harm Avoidance [HA or H]. People who score low for this rely on their luck and still feel fine even when under threat or danger. They take risks without feeling stressed about doing so. There are probably relatively high numbers of people with these characteristics in the chemical strength sports world.
Another protective quality is 'self directedness' [SD or S]. People with this quality learn to accept that it's not possible to achieve everything you set out to do. They are usually blessed with a dose of relativism, although some psychologists prefer to refer to it as 'self-transcendence'.
"Persistence is neither good nor bad", the researchers conclude. "Trying to be perfect is a self-defeating goal, and leads inevitably to harsh judgements of guilt and shame. Fortunately, persistence also can help a person to let go of self-defeating drives and intentions by becoming self-aware of them and then learning how to let go of fighting with one's self by using the science of well-being."
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