Resolving Not to Quit: Evidence That Salient Group Memberships Increase Resilience in a Sensorimotor Task

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Social group memberships are recognized as a source of resilience during challenging periods.
• The role of social groups in bolstering resilience specifically against negative performance feedback requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether social group memberships can enhance resilience by promoting task persistence following negative performance feedback.
• To explore the impact of salient group memberships on performance and persistence after experiencing failure.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments (N=63, N=61) involving participants completing a multi-round performance task.
• Experimental groups reflected on the importance of their social group memberships before the task.
• Control groups did not engage in reflection on social groups.

Main Results:

• Participants who reflected on important social groups demonstrated increased persistence in practicing the task after receiving negative performance feedback.
• Experiment 2 showed performance improvement following negative feedback in the experimental group compared to the control group.
• No significant differences were found in self-reported confidence, motivation, or self-efficacy explaining the observed effects.

Conclusions:

• Salient social group memberships serve as a critical psychological resource, enhancing resilience to negative performance feedback.
• Group memberships facilitate task persistence and can contribute to performance recovery after failure.
• This study provides initial evidence for the role of social groups in improving sensorimotor task performance resilience.