You're tired of hearing Joe Buck regurgitate them, but that doesn't make some sports clichés any less true. For example, victory tastes sweeter after you've endured a bitter defeat, finds new research from the University of British Columbia.
The more adversity you've suffered in the past, the more you savor events in the present, shows the study of nearly 15,000 people. On average, surviving a past hardship increased a person's ability to enjoy better times by 15 percent.
Why? "When bad things have happened to someone in the past, he expects good things to be fewer and farther between, and so he's more motivated to make the most of good things when they do happen," explains study coauthor Alyssa Croft.
Here are a few more science-backed platitudes that actually check out:
"This guy's a born leader." A study of 4,000 twins uncovered a "leadership gene" responsible for roughly 25 percent of your take-charge capability. The rest of your put-the-game-on-my-shoulders moxie probably comes from your upbringing and your life experience, according to the University College London study authors.
"Practice makes perfect." Frequently switching up the skills you're practicing leads to better results that focusing on perfecting a single skill, reveals research from the University of Southern California. For example, you'll drain more free throws if you mix in some layups and 3-point shooting, as opposed to just working on your foul-shot ability. Varying your practice routine improves your brain's ability to learn and perfect motor tasks, the researchers suggest.
"You learn from your mistakes." If you're about to repeat a past mistake, the lower temporal region of your brain sends out a "warning signal" even before you register a conscious thought, finds a study from the University of Exeter. And past studies have shown your brain holds on to more information when you make incorrect predictions than correct ones. That doesn't mean you won't make the same dumb mistake twice--but your brain is learning, the research suggests.
"There's no place like home." Teams playing at home win more than 60 percent of the time, according to research from Northeastern University. The players' familiarity with their surroundings and fans' ability to influence referee judgments may help explain the "home-field advantage," the authors say.
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