Here are 2 facts: 1. There are 7 billion people in the world. 2. Mindfulness may not work for everyone. What if you are not the kind of person who likes to take a deep breath and let thoughts come and go? Although it is an advised way for one to resort to when facing hardships, it is not the only way to cope with struggles. Ever heard about the Batman Effect?
Batman As Your Alter Ego
“I am not the one who needs to perform. Batman does”.
Anxiety due to being in a tough time can be lessened when one considers themselves as another person. In the above, scenario, batman is set as the alter ego. This alter ego tends to increase confidence and resolve in addition to easing anxiety when dealing with problems.
The Batman Effect
Image via Fatherly
In a study conducted by Professor Ethan Kross and his colleagues, children between the ages of 4 and 6 were chosen to accomplish a tedious task. The kids were told to put in a lot of effort and endure for as long as they could. They were also reminded that the task was tedious. The researchers then told the kids they could take a break whenever they wanted to play a fun game. This is to assess how committed they were to the task.
Group 1 was instructed to reflect on their effort while working on the task by asking themselves, “Am I working hard?”.
Group 2 was told to ask themselves “Is ____ working hard?”. They used their own names to fill in the blank. Talking to oneself in the third person establishes some “self-distance” or “psychological distance.”
Group 3 was instructed to imagine they were their favorite character, such as Batman. They were given a prop to provide as a visual cue to behave in character. And one of the questions they were asking was, “Is Batman working hard?”.
“What Would Batman Do”
Image via Medium
According to Ethan Kross and his colleagues, children from Group 1 did not enjoy the activity. They took the most breaks, had low motivation, and generally failed to finish the task. While the second group, who used the third person to refer to themselves, performed somewhat better. But the ‘Batman’ group, worked harder, took fewer breaks, and relished it more than the other groups did.
How does it work, actually?
When one takes a step back, he/she is able to view the situation with less intensity and emotion. By taking on an alter ego, you can take a step back from tough times and respond as your alter ego. This way might be the better way than reacting to the problem as yourself. Choose an alter ego and ask, “What would they do if they were in this position?” and start making your way through your tough moments!
Batman Effect Alternatives
Image via Medium
The Batman Effect might not work on you too. And that is completely fine. There are other ways to cope with hardships. One can try to imagine being in a crowd. When one is under stress, just being aware that others are observing could be enough to make things easier for one to act.
For instance, notice how parents start to be gentler towards their naughty kids when they are in public? Other than that, one can also try to visualize a mentor and lean on them. Progressively, one will start to behave like the mentor they have chosen and eventually, be able to progress through tough times.
Choosing an alter ego, in this case, is important as it will shape us into the person who we will look up to. It should help us get through tough times with more ease and most importantly, effectively. Bear in mind that this method holds half of the opportunity of actually working for some people, given that they made the wise choice of who their alter ego is. Having a hard time at work and Batman Effect is just not for you? Visit Work Stress: Ways To Tackle It for more ways of facing tough times.
