 |
| Senior middle blocker Saverina Chicka (left) and junior outside hitter Kristen Stanek |
Giving praise and focusing on the positive seems like an excellent idea. Unfortunately, humans are wired to do exactly the opposite. Consider:
Of the 558 words in the English language that describe emotion, 62 percent are negative and 38 percent are positive.
When you show someone pictures of bad events and good events, they spend more time looking at the bad ones.
When describing sports, people are more likely to talk about negative events than positive ones. From '90-'93 the Buffalo Bills won 75% of their games, but we all know what they're remembered for.
Looking for bright spots doesn't come naturally to us, and it seems we'll trend negative unless shown a better option. Fortunately, over time, that better option can be explicitly taught.