Tag: Perspective Archives — Duck for Cover

Time heals all wounds…right now

Published on January 29, 2015 in Work Psychology by drnduck

Imagine your worst fear. It could be a job interview or having to give a speech. Perhaps you dislike heights and will do anything to avoid flying. It may be as simple as feeling obliged to network among a group of peers.

Your heart pounds and thoughts race. Your palms sweat and your chest feels tight. Right now, your sympathetic nervous system is doing everything it can to keep you sucked into the present moment, heightening your senses and drawing you into this specific point in time.

According to research, the best way to neutralise these feelings, and restore your composure, is to pull your mind out of the present and think about your future.

Across a series of studies, the researchers made participants think of an event which
made them distressed. They then made some of them reflect about the emotion and
whether it would continue to be a source of stress in the near future, while another group had to imagine how the emotion might impact them in the distant future.

Participants who reflected on the distant future reported less distress than the individuals who reflected on the near future. Pondering the distant future seemed to help nullify symptoms of distress.

The researchers also identified one of the mechanisms that explained these effects. They discovered that when we think about the future, our perspective improves. That is, we see the emotion as a moment in time rather than an enduring problem.

These findings are a reminder that when under times of stress, you might untangle yourself by lifting yourself out of the moment and seeing the experience as a blip on the radar of your life.

Why they’re ignoring your advice

Published on October 24, 2014 in Work Psychology by drnduck

When faced with a choice, research shows that individuals tend to be more pragmatic than idealistic. In contrast, when providing advice to others, individuals are more idealistic.

Say you’re about to apply for a new job. The first job may be low paid but could position you in a field that excites and interests you. The second job may not excite you but pays well.

In these hypothetical scenarios we like to believe we’d pursue our dreams but more often than not we move towards the safer option.

However, because our friends and colleagues are not entangled with the complications and reality of the choice, they are more likely to advise you to pursue the idealistic option.

These outcomes can be explained by an interesting line of research, which shows that distance from an event, such as a choice, makes us think in more expansive and open ways. However, when we are closer to the event, our thinking becomes more specific and we tend to focus on complications.

Think about how this plays out at work. You’ve been asked to advise on an important decision. Seeing the forest from the trees, you advise the tougher option that will generate the best quality outcome in the long-term.

Your manager ultimately selects the path of least resistance. You feel deflated. But what would you do in his or her shoes when genuinely faced with the same choice? Research demonstrates that when advisers are asked to put themselves in the shoes of the chooser, they also select the practical option.

Can being more pragmatic make your advice more convincing?

Perspective

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