After a failure, a focus on external causes may protect self-efficacy.

“Despite our best attempts to prevent self-regulation failure and stay motivated and focused (e.g., through goal setting or progress monitoring), setbacks can still occur.

While it is healthy and adaptive to take responsibility for a failure and aim to improve performance, blaming oneself—especially internal causes beyond one’s control (e.g., thinking that “I’m weak” or “I have no willpower”)—is dysfunctional and has a negative effect on motivation and self-confidence.

Blaming oneself is also often inaccurate because, in many situations, we underestimate—or are not even aware of—external factors that contributed to the failure. For example, you may not be aware of the effects of a medication, TV commercials, or friends’ eating behavior on your experience of hunger and ability to stick to a diet.”

Source: New Research on How to Overcome Setbacks

Creating cognitive dissonance is an effective elicitation technique. Source: Inducing Cognitive Dissonance Can Reveal the Truth

Historians of the 1918 influenza pandemic discuss lessons for what the future of COVID might look like. Source: People, Not Science, Decide When a Pandemic Is Over

The 2022 March equinox falls March 20 at 15:33 UTC. Spring for the Northern Hemisphere. Autumn for the Southern Hemisphere. Source: EarthSky | March equinox 2022: All you need to know

During lockdown, I was jealous of all those coworkers that had cats crawling on their desks. Now that I have my own work blocker, I’m wondering what was I thinking?

Russia’s war may be unwinnable. Will Putin attempt a “limited” nuclear strike? Source: The Madness of Nuclear Threats

Today’s nuclear weapons are much more powerful than your father’s nukes!

What history teaches us about how autocrats lose power — and how Putin might hang on. Source: Could Putin actually fall?

The odds are not in his favor

Here’s something else to consider. Historically, in asymmetric warfare the underdog has a better chance of winning. Consider the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. See…