Stress, Mindsets, and Success in Navy SEALs Special Warfare Training

Abstract

Mindsets can impact an individual's performance in stressful experiences such as public speaking or receiving negative feedback. Yet we know little about the boundary conditions of where these mindsets predict success, and where they may become irrelevant or even maladaptive. The current research asks whether mindsets are beneficial in environments of extreme physical and mental stress using participants undergoing the notoriously challenging Navy SEALs training. We hypothesized that participants with stress-is-enhancing mindsets -who believe stress enhances their health, performance and wellbeing -will outperform those with stress-is-debilitating mindsets. In addition, we explore whether other mindsets about willpower and failure predict success in a similar manner. Following 174 Navy SEALs candidates, we find that, even in this extreme setting, stress-is-enhancing mindsets predict greater persistence through training, faster obstacle course times, and fewer negative evaluations from peers and instructors. We also find evidence that failure-is-enhancing mindsets may be detrimental to candidates' success, and non-limited willpower mindsets prompt negative evaluations from others. Multiverse analyses were conducted to test for the robustness of these effects across researcher analytical decisions, which produced consistent results. We discuss how findings in this unique environment can provide insight into the importance of mindsets in other organizations and propose future avenues of research to further understand the causal role of mindsets in diverse workplace contexts.

Can Physiological and Psychological Factors Predict Dropout from Intense 10-Day Winter Military Survival Training?

“…Interestingly, a recent study showed that stress mind-set predicted success in a 7-week NAVY SEALS training, known to be physically and mentally very challenging [44]. "Stress is enhancing" mindset was inversely related to dropout and positively to obstacle course time [44].…”

“…Interestingly, a recent study showed that stress mind-set predicted success in a 7-week NAVY SEALS training, known to be physically and mentally very challenging [44]. "Stress is enhancing" mindset was inversely related to dropout and positively to obstacle course time [44]. It is worth noting, that all the previous studies investigating psychological metrics and drop-out have used longer exposure time frame (from 25 days up to several months) compared to shorter one used in the present study.…”

You seem tired, but so am I: Willpower theories and intention to provide support in romantic relationships

“…Limited theorists show less goal-persistence, have higher BMIs, and lower subjective well-being (for review, see Francis & Job, 2018). But early evidence suggests that limited willpower beliefs might have some positive interpersonal consequences-for instance, in a sample of Navy SEALs, nonlimited willpower theorists were rated more negatively by their peers and instructors than their limited theorist counterparts, potentially due to nonlimited theorists having higher standards and less empathy for their peers (Smith et al, 2018). If limited theorists are more likely to anticipate and empathize with other people's fatigue, then they might have an advantage when supporting their romantic partners-if, that is, they can overcome their own feelings of depletion.…”

“…If this is true, holding a more limited willpower theory may be associated with less intention to provide support. (2) However, limited theorists are more likely to anticipate and relate to other people’s experiences of depletion (Francis & Inzlicht, 2017; Smith, Young, & Crum, 2018)–if limited theorists are more likely to see their partner as fatigued or unhappy, they may be more motivated and willing to provide support for their partner. If this is true, a more limited willpower theory may be associated with more intention to provide support.…”

Intended responses to romantic partners’ annoying behaviours vary with willpower beliefs

“…Initial evidence does suggest that holding a limited willpower theory might be associated with some positive interpersonal outcomes; one recent study found that limited willpower theorists were viewed more positively by peers and instructors (Smith et al ., 2020) and a second study found that limited willpower theorists were more likely to perceive their romantic partner as fatigued in the evenings, which indirectly predicted more intended provision of support (Francis et al ., 2020). It is possible that those who believe that willpower is limited may be better able to empathize and respond with understanding to those around them, particularly when those around them have experienced high levels of demand.…”