Persistence (psychology)
Persistence in psychology refers to the behavioral trait characterized by an individual's self-motivation to pursue goals despite facing challenges and obstacles. It is distinct from merely completing tasks, as true persistence involves overcoming significant difficulties. This trait is linked to positive attributes such as resilience, determination, and problem-solving capabilities, suggesting that persistent individuals may be more successful than their less persistent counterparts, regardless of other factors like education or background.
Research indicates that persistence can be cultivated through focused goal-setting and strategies to overcome obstacles, often reinforced by direct rewards related to the effort. However, persistence can also have downsides; individuals may cling to unproductive behaviors or perfectionism, leading to anxiety or emotional stress. Additionally, persistence can manifest negatively when related to painful memories, such as those experienced in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which can interfere with daily life.
Overall, while persistence is generally viewed as a beneficial trait, it is important to recognize its potential complexities and challenges, particularly in relation to mental health and emotional well-being.
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Persistence (psychology)
In psychology, persistence refers to the behavioral trait of a person who is self-motivated to continue to pursue a goal or complete an accomplishment despite challenges or obstacles. The obstacles or challenges are key to determining if the person is exhibiting persistence or merely completing a task. Persistence can also pertain to something that lingers and interferes with a person's ability to function in some way. For example, persistent memories of a bad car accident could cause a person to refuse to leave the house.
Background
Psychologists have long known that the degree to which a person is persistent is an important factor in determining the overall character and temperament of that individual. Testing to determine a person's temperament and character began in the nineteenth century. By World War II, the military was using temperament testing to determine which soldiers were most suitable for certain battle situations.
In the late 1980s, C. Robert Cloninger, a psychiatrist and university professor, developed a test known as the Temperament and Character Inventory, or TCI, test. The test, which is still used in the twenty-first century, measures four specific aspects of a person's temperament: novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence, and persistence. Persistence is seen as an important trait because a persistent person also develops and displays such positive traits as resilience, determination, grit, problem-solving, flexibility, confidence, and good self-esteem.
Overview
Persistence is an important trait because it can be a significant indicator of how successful a person will be. Further, persistence has been associated with better mental health and overall greater life satisfaction, especially when coupled with resilience. Research has shown it can be more important than how hard a person works and how well a person plans. It also trumps other factors, such as education and background. For example, consider a situation in which three people graduate from college with honors at the same time. One is the type of person who does not have to study much to get good grades and does not need to hold a job while in school. The second person has to put some time and effort into studying but also does not have to work. The third graduate has a learning disability that makes reading the class materials difficult. He also has to work two part-time jobs to pay for college. Although all three "stuck with it" and achieved the same accomplishment, the third graduate is the one who displayed persistence because he did not allow obstacles to prevent him from reaching his goal. In other words, persistence is not about how long a person works at a task or how much effort was put into the task—it is about what difficulties are faced and overcome in completing the task.
Researchers have determined that persistence is developed by intentionally remaining focused on the goal and finding strategies for overcoming obstacles. For instance, the third graduate in the above example listened to audio versions of class materials during his drive to and from work to help overcome his reading problem and make good use of available time. People who develop such skills often do so because of past rewards for these behaviors. The persistent graduate may have achieved good grades in high school using recorded materials, and those good grades encouraged him to continue the behavior. Researchers have noted, however, that persistent behaviors are developed best by rewards directly related to the persistence, as in the student getting good grades while overcoming his reading problem.
Non-related rewards, such as money or prizes, do not work as well in developing persistence, the researchers determined, and the drive to overcome obstacles often disappears when the non-related rewards are removed. They have also discovered that people are more likely to be persistent when they are told what they are doing is hard than when they are told that it is easy. It is believed this has to do with self-esteem; a person has less pride at stake when failing at something that is viewed as hard but more pride can be gained by accomplishing it. On the other hand, people might be more likely to abandon an "easy" task if it proves more difficult than expected because it would damage their self-esteem to fail. Voluntarily stopping allows the person to argue that the task was so easy it was not worth the time rather than risk failure.
In most cases, persistence is a good trait for a person to develop. However, sometimes a person continues to pursue a course of action or repeats a set of behaviors even when it has become clear that this cannot result in achieving the objective or completing the task. For example, a baseball pitcher practices for years and finally develops a unique pitch that confuses hitters and causes them to strike out repeatedly. Eventually, the batters adjust and begin to hit the previously unhittable pitches. Continuing to pitch the same way will result in many poor performances by the pitcher. However, if he returns to the persistent practice habits that allowed him to develop the unique pitch in the first place, he may develop a new pitching style that will result in strikeouts.
Another potential problem with persistence is its association with people who are perfectionists or highly ambitious. In these cases, some people may have a persistent temperament but also develop anxiety, depression, or some frustration while pursuing a goal, causing mental and emotional stress in the process. Healthy ways to develop persistence include setting realistic goals and using time management and organization techniques.
Persistence can also be problematic when it involves painful memories. This type of persistence, which is largely outside of the individual's control, can often interfere with the person's ability to fully enjoy and engage in life. These memories are often of painful, frightening, or upsetting events, and they can provoke the person to act as if the event is happening all over again. This type of persistence is at the root of post-traumatic stress disorder, which can affect combat veterans, abuse victims, and others who experience extremely disturbing events. Their persistent memories cause them to relive these events and the related emotions repeatedly. In such cases, it is recommended that the person seek treatment for the persistent memories from a licensed professional.
Bibliography
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