If you have been following along from the last blog, you will remember that the simple act of smiling, straightening your back and opening your shoulders can make difficult things seem easier. This is true for mentally or physically taxing tasks, or tasks that are both! (If you have ever tried working out your pacing for the remainder of an endurance event to make your goal time – you will know about the latter, I am sure). We also saw that this is to do with our mind picking up on the emotion that goes with a specific facial expression (e.g., happy) or body posture (e.g., confident).
Another reason why this works so well is that we are ‘programmed’ to mirror the expression and posture of others. So, when you walk into an interview, smiling and upright, the interview panel will likely smile back and feel positive toward you. This means, there really is some science behind the expression of “smile and the world smiles with you” or what is also called ‘emotional contagion’. The same thing happens with other muscles of the body. Have you ever watched other people watching sport? This is great fun in a crowd when you watch rugby, for example. You might see people in the crowd leaning to a specific side when they watch a tackle or jumping in their seat a little in a line out. Now, they are not really thinking that they are assisting the player or catching the rugby ball in the line out. What is happening is that they are mimicking the movement of the players on the field. Most people won’t even be aware of it.
The (unintentional) matching of other people’s movements around us is commonly referred to as ‘motor contagion’ and has received quite a bit of attention in research. The theory is that it evolved with our social habits. Matching the actions of somebody who is grabbing one end of something heavy to pick up, for example, allows us to work together to achieve tasks. Over the evolution of humans, specific parts of our brains have developed to give us this ability and they have developed because it gives us an advantage. We can drag the heavy mammoth home together and have food for the lean parts of the year. Or, in today’s world, we can smash the interview, the exam or the tough workout. Go you!
Likewise, cooperation, even if it is only a shared experience of the effort, and not assisting another person in terms of physical or mental power, can make things seem easier. Emotional and motor contagion can lead to better performance and also greater team cohesion for team sports. For example, in a CrossFit experiment where trained actors ‘enacted’ high arousal and pleasantness, participants reported feeling happier, more excited and felt more connected with the group. So, if you are looking for a new coach for your group workout, choose the ‘cheerleader’-type coach and if you are coaching, make sure you bring your happy face for better team dynamics.
To make the most of emotional and motor contagion, you might like to consider the following quick starter points:
- Smile when things get tough.
- Share the challenge with like-minded people; people that enjoy a tough mental or physical challenge.
- For your next mental or physical challenge, choose an environment where you can soak up the energy around you. For example, go to the public library to read that tricky paper you have been avoiding for so long. Plan your next hard workout session to take place at the pumping gym or choose the popular route with lots of other people exercising.
If you are keen to learn more about how you can develop power for your physical and mental activity, follow me or subscribe to the blogpost. To work with me one-on-one to apply some of these principles to your own life and movement, message me for a free call. I look forward to hearing from you.
References (for the extra keen)
Blakemore & Frith (2005)
Eldadi et al. (2023)
Niedenthal et al. (2010)