Winning Banter

We all love a bit of sports banter and recent studies show getting chat during a match could actually boost your game

| UPDATED banter sport

Whichever sport is yours, there are moments you kick off at your competitor (all in the name of sportsmanship, I’m sure). However, studies here at Exeter have concluded that a bit of “healthy rivalry” could actually boost the performance of the person that you are trying to put down.

The research, which will be published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, shows putting down your own team members sends them into downward performance spirals, but external criticism can be the trigger that boosts performance as people try to prove the outsiders wrong.

Pete Coffee from the University of Stirling said: “The research not only highlights ways to improve performance but also demonstrates the positive and negative impact that encouragement and criticism from fellow group members can have. This work points to the need for people like sports coaches and business leaders to think carefully about the way they deliver performance-related feedback.”

Time to bring back the compliments guys…