The expectation effect

By Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo

Here are instances that prove our minds can have a powerful effect on our bodies and performance in general. In World War II, morphine was running low, so thousands of soldiers undergoing surgery were injected with a saline solution and told it was morphine. The placebo was 90% as effective as the actual drug! In an antidepressant drug trial in Minnesota, a man took all 29 pills and was immediately rushed to the hospital. When he arrived, he was pale, drowsy, shaking, and had extremely low blood pressure. Doctors spent hours trying to improve his condition but couldn’t. When the doctor from the clinical trial arrived, he told the man that he actually had NOT taken the active drug and was overdosing on dummy pills. After hearing the news, the man made a full recovery. In 2011, psychologist Dan Ariely handed out identical sunglasses to study participants and asked them to read words under the glare of bright light. Those participants who were told they were wearing expensive Ray-Ban sunglasses read twice as many words correctly as those who thought they were wearing middle-market brand sunglasses.

These findings are examples of what scientists call “the expectation effect.” In the book “The Expectation Effect: How Your Mindset Can Change Your World,” author David Robson provides practical ways we can leverage the expectation effect in our lives and tap into our full potential. The following are his expectation-effect performance-enhancing tips.

Expect Rituals to Boost Your Performance

Serena Williams would bounce the ball exactly five times before serving. Rafael Nadal would always take a cold shower before matches. If you think these rituals seem like a waste of time, think again. Empirical research shows that rituals are powerful performance-enhancing tools. A study in the Journal of Sports Sciences found that elite basketball players are 12.4% more likely to make a free throw if they execute their pre-shot ritual than if they deviate from it. Rituals seem to work because executing a series of deliberate actions generates a sense of self-control and concentration, which creates an expectation of continued self-control and concentration.

Before any activity that requires total concentration, perform a ritual you believe will boost your performance, such as repeating your favorite quote or saying a prayer. Or do a breathing exercise, like three deep diaphragmatic breaths. Listen to a specific song. If you pick a soundtrack song that makes you think of a character in a movie with heightened abilities, such as the theme song of the movie “Superman,” you might tap into the second performance-enhancing expectation effect.

Expect Mental Simulation to Enhance Your Abilities

When a group of cadets in officer training were given a standard eye test and then asked to go into a flight simulator and told to take the simulation seriously (like a pilot would), they were able to read serial numbers on approaching planes during the simulation that were much smaller than text on the standard eye test they were unable to read. Why could the cadets see better after imagining they were pilots? The cadets expected pilots to have excellent vision, so their minds and bodies did what they could to improve their eyesight.

You can use this finding by visualizing demanding situations to enhance your abilities — whatever activity you’re about to do. Just imagine an extreme version of the activity that demands your best self. For example, if you’re about to play a chess game with a friend, close your eyes and imagine you’re playing against world champion Magnus Carlsen — if you’re going to have any chance against him, you’ll need extreme levels of concentration and mental acuity. Or before a basketball game with friends, imagine playing one-on-one with Michael Jordan and needing the quickness to defend against Jordan’s drive. When you start the game with your friends, you might play the best basketball of your life.

Expect Your Willpower to Be Limitless

Think of a time you resisted a strong temptation, felt strengthened, and found it easier to withstand additional temptation. Numerous studies show that those who adopt a “non-limited” view of the mind’s resources recover faster from a tiring workday and achieve greater productivity the following day. In fact, people with a “non-limited” view of willpower are more productive after demanding days.

Believing that willpower is limitless should NOT be a license for you to work until you collapse — the mind has a limit because we are not God, but that limit is much further away than you think, and your ability to recover happens much faster than you believe. “It is possible to push the limits of what we can achieve through a simple change of mindset.” (David Robson)