Sometimes when people are under pressure, they may start paying too much attention to how they are doing things, which can actually make them perform worse. This is called “self-focus.” Some scientists have come up with theories to explain why this happens (e.g., Beilocket al., 2002; Masters, 1992; McNevinet al., 2003). They suggest that when people are under pressure, they may start thinking too much about the little details of what they are doing, which can mess up their movements (Malhotra & Masters, 2009). This can be especially true for people who are really good at something and usually do it automatically. When they start paying attention to how they are doing it, it can slow them down and make them make mistakes (Baumeister & Showers, 1986). There are different ideas about why this happens, but they all agree that it’s because people start “overthinking” things (Malhotra & Masters, 2009). Scientists have done studies that show when people are told to pay attention to the little details of what they are doing, they actually perform worse than when they don’t think about it. However, this doesn’t always happen to everyone, and it can depend on things like how good someone is at the activity and their personality (Malhotra & Masters, 2009). Scientists have suggested that to help people not get stuck in self-focus and perform better under pressure, they can focus on the results of what they are doing, like hitting a target or making a shot, instead of how they are doing it (Masters, 1992; McNevin et al., 2003).
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Beilock, S. L., Carr, T. H., MacMahon, C., & Starkes, J. L. (2002). When paying attention becomes counterproductive: Impact of divided versus skill-focused attention on novice and experienced performance of sensorimotor skills. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 8(1), 6.
Masters, R. S. W. (1992). Knowledge, knerves and know-how: The role of explicit versus implicit knowledge in the break- down of a complex motor skill under pressure. British Journal of Psychology, 83, 343358.
Malhotra, N., & Masters, R. (2019). In D. Hackfort, R. J. Schinke, & B. Strauss (Eds.), Dictionary of sport psychology: Sport, exercise, and performing arts. Academic Press.
McNevin, N. H., Shea, C. H., & Wulf, G. (2003). Increasing the distance of an external focus of attention enhances learn- ing. Psychological Research, 67, 2229.
