What To Do About The Infuriating Nature Of Reality

HAVE YOU ever noticed that positive reinforcement doesn't seem work? After praising someone for something they did really well, have you noticed they often don't do as well the next time? And even though you've heard negative reinforcement doesn't help, you will often see people do noticeably better after you criticize or punish them.

But studies have shown that positive reinforcement works better than negative reinforcement.

So why does it seem not to work out that way in your own life?

The answer sounds complicated but it is very simple: Statistical regression. This simply means that a really good performance is probably going to be followed by a performance that isn't as good. Statistically, it isn't very likely that an exceptionally great performance will be immediately followed by an even more exceptionally great performance.

And in the same way and for the same reason, a particularly bad performance will be followed by a better performance (whether or not the person was punished for it).

Let me give you an example from the world of athletes. The magazine, Sports Illustrated, wanted to put the swimmer, Shirley Babashoff, on their cover before the 1976 Olympics, but rumor has it she tried to talk them out of it. She didn’t want to jinx herself.

Many athletes believe in the "Sports Illustrated jinx." But the jinx is an illusion.

They finally convinced Babashoff it would not be bad luck by pointing out that Mark Spitz was on their cover and came home from the 1972 Olympics with seven gold medals! She agreed to appear on their cover.

We can see why a superstition like "the jinx" comes about by looking at why athletes always seem to do poorly after being on the cover. The only reason someone gets on the cover in the first place is because of an amazing recent performance. It may in fact be the best performance of their career.

Since even good athletes win some and lose some, an amazing performance is often followed by a merely good performance, and at the top level of competitive athletics, a merely good performance may cause the athlete to lose a contest.

Let's look at it this way: The top score you can get bowling is 300. It is the league tournament, and John bowls a 300. His teammates are ecstatic! His league manager makes him team leader. But the very next time John bowls, is he likely to bowl another 300? Not likely. He will probably bowl something less than that. Why? Because he got so much praise? No, it’s just statistical regression.

Every performance is a little different. So statistically, a really good performance is very likely to be followed by a somewhat less outstanding performance.

If you can remind yourself of the misleading nature of the regression effect, you will have more success in using positive reinforcement with your employees or your children.

Read more: Why Positive Reinforcement Doesn't Seem To Work