The Batman Effect - Blog Posts
🧁🤍THE BATMAN EFFECT🤍🧁
🤍Are you aware of the meme where people start identifying themselves as batman ? Turns out it is more than a meme. The batman effect means where you pretend to be character like Batman or Barbie to complete a task.
🧁In a University of Michigan a researcher , Professor Ethan Kross , he completed a study he completed with several colleagues where a sample of 4 and 6 year old children were invited to complete a boring task on computer . The children were instructed to work hard , keep it as long as they could and they were reminded the task were boring . To test their commitment to the cause , the researchers informed the kids that they could take the break whenever they wanted to play a game on tablet .
Group one - Researchers told them to ask themselves , " Am I working hard ? " while they completed the task.
Group Two- Researchers instructed these children to ask themselves , " is y/n working hard ? " .
Group Three - Researchers told these kids children to pretend they were a favourite hardworking character like Batman , Bob the Builder or Dora the explorer . They received a prop like a cape as a visual reminder to act like their character. They were instructed to ask themselves, " Is Batman working hard ? "
Result - Children in group one did not enjoy their task . They took most breaks and their motivation was poor. The second group did a little better . The third group or the Batman group worked harder , took fewer breaks and enjoyed their tasks more than others.
🤍The batman effect works for not only children but for adults too !! Beyonce has an alter ego " Sasha Fierce " , her alter ego allowed her to be confident . Adele also has an alter ego " Sasha Carter " , her alter ego was a combination of Beyonce's Sasha Fierce and the real music star June Cartar. Adele admitted that her alter ego helped her give her best to every performance during her breakout year. I believe even k-pop idols have alter egos , there are idols who are bubbly and shy in real life but on stage they are confident.
🧁The Batman effect helps us to reduce anxiety. Adopting an alter ego is an extreme form of self-distancing which involves taking a step back from our immediate feelings to allow us to view a situation more dispassionately. When you think of yourself as a separate identity , it is not you that has to perform the task , it is Batman . It can help you to build confidence, increase concentration , improve your emotional regulation and help you to gain self-control . Your alter ego has no limitations.
🧁So the next time , you lose your motivation to study ? Pretend you are Rory Gilmore. ( whoever you upto for study inspiration) . You feel you cannot do anything ? Pretend you are Barbie. You feel you cannot dance ? Pretend you are Michael Jackson.
