Personal Statement Of The Problem - 1144 Words

Statement of the Problem Introduction Imagine for a moment, awakening everyday and being told by everyone around you, that you were born to fail- that you are nothing and that no matter what you do or what you say, you will mess up. How may believing that you can not succeed at anything impact your daily performance? Now in contrast, imagine awakening daily and being told by everyone around you that you were born to thrive and to succeed- that you were born for an amazing purpose, and that you can not only do anything you set your mind to, but that you can do it better than anyone else. Imagine the impact these two opposing approaches would have on your life. According to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary (2003), confidence is defined as, â€Å"a†¦show more content†¦In this study, two basketball teams were analyzed, one of which was consistently encouraged by their leader who demonstrated confidence in his team. In contrast, the other team’s leader consistently demonstrated lack of confidence in his team and undermined their abilities. From this it was found that when individuals had a leader that believed in their abilities, that the individuals within the team became confident in their own abilities, and consistently outperformed the other team and were more successful in performance. This study can be directly compared to a study published in 2002 in the North American Journal of Psychology. A psychologist by the name of Dr. Lisa Smith sought to study if any correlation existed between an individual’s confidence level and their performance on exams. The individuals in this study were asked to rate themselves on a numerical scale on multiple factors that collectively depicted an overall level of confidence. Not only was a positive correlation found between confidence levels and performance levels, but perhaps more interesting was that when this was analyzed more closely, there was no greater knowledge base found between the two populations of students being studied. Th us, after additional analysis it was deduced that the confident individuals had less anxiety in regards to test taking, and thus outperformed the diffident individuals