Where good ideas come from – and what happens when ideas have sex! What’s relevant to a society is how well people are communicating their ideas, and how well they’re cooperating, not how clever the individuals are. Matt Ridley An idea is a…
Where good ideas come from – and what happens when ideas have sex! What’s relevant to a society is how well people are communicating their ideas, and how well they’re cooperating, not how clever the individuals are. Matt Ridley An idea is a…
If you think that you can judge by examining someone’s facial expressions if he has just hit the jackpot in the lottery or lost everything in the stock market — think again. Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and…
Is playing football like falling in love? That question, which would perhaps not occur to most of us watching hours of the bruising game this holiday season, is the focus of a provocative and growing body of new science examining…
When you need to perform, emotions either help you, or they throw a spanner in the works. Just ask Arjen Robben who missed a penalty in the final of the Champions League in May. Dr. Gert-Jan Pepping, a researcher at the…
For the 6th time since 1990, the British football team has been knocked out of a major tournament by losing the decisive penalty shootout. In the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 against Italy last Sunday, England seemed to finally put an…
Emotional contagion refers to the tendency to automatically mimic and synchronize expressions, vocalisations, postures and movements with those of another person’s and consequently to converge emotionally. Contagion of positive emotions is thought to play an important role in achieving successful…
Playing his first major final, against Fergal O’Brien in the Masters, Hunter was well down at the interval. In a notorious stunt, his manager Brandon Parker instructed him to revert to “Plan B” – which, as Hunter reiterates with determined…
[voor een Nederlandse vertaling van dit bericht klik hier] In sports, long the idea has prevailed that sexual abstinence, that is, no sex before competition, is good for sports performance. Recent research however shows that healthier people have more sex.…
Imagine you’re coaching a big football game, against an undefeated team that has beaten your team in all your previous matches. Your 11-year-olds are playing well and are ahead. Then, in the closing minutes, the official makes a bad call…
Dr. Paul Zak explains how morality (read: important decisions when we work together with other people, such as in team sports), is linked to the neuro-peptide oxytocin. Taken from the BBC documentary Horizon: Are you Good or Evil.
Perception, Action, and Emotions in Performance 