A Smarter Way to Measure Job Complexity
What is the best way to measure how cognitively demanding a job is? A 2023 study argues the answer might be simpler than we thought: just look at the average intelligence of the people doing it.
Nonverbal Cues in Job Interviews
What you say in a job interview matters. So does how you look saying it. A 2022 meta-analysis spanning 70 years of research finds that professional appearance, eye contact, and head movement are among the strongest predictors of interview ratings — and that structural safeguards do surprisingly little to change that.
Studies You Should Know Personality and Intelligence: What Is the Real Relationship?
Intelligence and personality have long been treated as separate domains. A sweeping 2022 meta-analysis of over 160,000 participants finds they are more meaningfully connected than most research has suggested — but only if you know where to look.
Growth Mindset: A systematic review and meta-analysis of growth mindset interventions: For whom, how, and why might such interventions work??
Growth Mindset Interventions: What Does the Evidence Actually Show? Growth mindset programs have spread through classrooms worldwide on the promise of large gains in student achievement. A rigorous 2022 meta-analysis of 97,000 students suggests the evidence behind that promise is far thinner than advertised.Growth mindset programs have spread through classrooms worldwide on the promise of large gains in student achievement. A rigorous 2022 meta-analysis of 97,000 students suggests the evidence behind that promise is far thinner than advertised.
The Elephant in the Room
The Problem The study of wisdom in psychology has long suffered from a curious irony: the field itself has lacked the very
Self-esteem and Mental Health: The Foundation of the Psychologically Healthy Mind
In a previous blog, we introduced the concept of optimal performance, the alignment between ones lived reality and a sense of well-being. In
Boxing your way out of depression
This article tackles boxing and depression, in order to understand this interaction, we need to know more about depression before explaining how it interelates with boxing. Depression is the world’s most prominent non-communicable disease. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), depression is the leading cause of disability in the US and Canada, ahead of coronary heart disease, cancer and AIDS. Not surprisingly, mood disorders are a focal point for psychiatric work.
What is optimisation?
At Spartans, we define optimisation as follows: when the external reality matches the individual's internal subjective experience and goals. The graph has two axes. Subjective well-being is how a person feels about themselves and their emotional, mental and physical well-being. The other axis is their external reality—their alignment between their hoped-for and experienced life. Optimisation, the goal Spartans has for its members, is when a positive emotional state matches a positive external reality. When the subjective experience and external reality are both positive, a person is on the road to optimisation
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or Business as Usual
When it comes to community responsibility, boxing gyms stand apart. CSR has long been embedded in boxing culture, particularly in grassroots gyms within working-class communities. These gyms have historically served as safe spaces for troubled youth and individuals facing hardship. Gym owners and coaches regularly donate time, resources, and personal support to help others. Many world-class boxers began their journeys in these environments, including Mike Tyson, Canelo Alvarez, and Tyson Fury. Trainers such as Cus D'Amato are remembered not only for producing champions, but for dedicating their lives to guiding and supporting people beyond the ring.
Progression and Avoiding the Choke
References Beilock, S. (2010). Choke: What the secrets of the brain reveal about getting it right when you have to. Simon and Schuster. Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Csikzentmihaly, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience (Vol. 1990). New York: Harper & Row.