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Welcome to my monthly Science Digest.
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This month we're diving into the psychology of competition versus cooperation. Are they zero-sum, or mutually beneficial? We'll turn to our primate cousins for some insight. We'll also go into the role of testosterone in competition: is it about aggression? And finally, how Tetris might help us deal with stress and trauma...and may be the thing we need to be playing after a tough loss.

As always, these monthly digest pull from the most interesting research I've come across and are designed to keep you informed, and provide some actionable insight.

Also... my new book WIN THE INSIDE GAME is a month old! It's been a national bestseller and featured in The Wall Street Journal. But getting people to read or listen to a book is harder than ever. It's a grind. And after spending 5+ years working on this book, I have to stay true to my goal: I believe it can help people. And to do so, I need to reach as many folks as possible with the message.
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For that reason, I'm adding a NEW BONUS if you buy today. You'll receive my 70 page eBook: Mental Skills Development for Performance. It's the guide that got me started working with NBA and MLB teams.

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Launching a book is fun but exhausting. It kind of sucks if we're being honest. You've spent years working on the thing, then need to spent way too much time online convincing people why to give it a read. So if you've enjoyed my work and found value in these newsletters, my tweets, YouTube videos, or any of the hundreds of hours of free content I've given away....consider spending $20 (It's 20% off right now!) on my book.

-Steve​

P.S. ANNOUNCEMENTS:

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​How Play Helps Make Tolerant Societies​

What they found: In Win the Inside Game, I made the case that kids need more play, but so do adults! We need recess for adults. Here's a study that takes that a step farther, looking to our animal bretheren to see how child and adult play shapes societies. It explores why adult social play is favored in species with high social tolerance and a need for cooperation. They look at the role of adult play in coping with unpredictable social situations and stressful experiences. They found that play fosters the development of egalitarian societies and synchronize group activities.

Actionable Insights:

1. Competition and cooperation are not mutually exclusive. Social play, particularly play fighting, involves elements of both competition and cooperation. This highlights how these two seemingly opposite behaviors can coexist and even complement each other.
2. Adult play can be a social lubricant. In species with high social tolerance, adult play can help manage social interactions and reduce stress. It can serve as a stress-releasing mechanism, especially in uncertain or tense situations.
3. The social environment shapes play behavior. The level of tolerance and cooperation in a society can influence the prevalence and function of adult play. For instance, in tolerant societies, adult play is more common and serves to maintain social bonds and manage conflicts.
4. Adult play can foster emotional resilience. Engaging in play can help individuals cope with stress and anxiety, promoting emotional well-being. This is particularly important in uncertain or challenging social environments.

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​Is Us vs. Them Ingrained in Us?​

What they found: Researchers explored the psychological and biological factors that influence how social groups form, cooperate, and experience conflict. Not all out-groups are treated equally and that group dynamics are flexible and context dependent. Researchers found that we don't default to "us" vs "them," a variety of factors including our social identity, impact how we see others..

Actionable Insights:

• Competition amplifies “us” vs. “them”: Competition, or even the perception of competition between groups, increases hostility and negative feelings towards the out-group. This highlights how competition can solidify group boundaries and intensify conflict.
• Cooperation can reduce conflict: Changing the way people perceive relationships between groups can lead to overcoming hostility and conflict. This suggests that promoting cooperation and shared goals can be an effective way to reduce intergroup competition.
• Social status matters: Social status plays a large role in intergroup dynamics. Groups and individuals constantly assess their social standing, which can lead to competition for resources and dominance.
• Empathy is biased: People tend to show less empathy towards members of out-groups, especially in competitive contexts. This highlights how competition can reduce our ability to understand and share the feelings of others outside our group.

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​Survival of the Friendliest: How Prosociality Helped Humans​

What they found: The unique features of human cognition, particularly our cooperative-communicative abilities, evolved through selection for prosociality. This selection process favored individuals and groups who were more cooperative and less aggressive, leading to a suite of traits known as the domestication syndrome. The author suggests that this self-domestication process played a crucial role in the development of human-specific social skills and cognitive abilities.Actionable Insights:

• Survival of the Friendliest: The title itself highlights a key insight: in the case of humans, friendliness, cooperation, and prosociality were crucial for survival and outcompeting other human species. This challenges the traditional view that competition is always about aggression and dominance.
• The Power of Cooperation: The paper emphasizes the importance of cooperative-communicative abilities in human evolution. These abilities allowed humans to share knowledge, build on previous innovations, and create complex cultures.
• Tolerance as a Key: Tolerance, or the ability to cooperate with a wide range of individuals, was crucial for the development of human social skills. This tolerance allowed for the expression of inherited cognitive skills in new social situations.

​How Testosterone Effects Competition and Cooperation​

What they found: Testosterone is often thought of as a hormone tied to aggression. But recent research points to it actually being about status. It pushes us towards climbing the ranks, finding significance of some sort. To test this idea out, researchers administered testosterone to a group of men. Which in turn increased motivation to compete for status. But the key was...it only had this effect in individuals with low unstable status. In contrast, testosterone decreased competition behavior in men with low stable status. This suggests that testosterone specifically boosts status-related motivation when there is an opportunity to improve one's social standing.

Actionable Insights:

• Testosterone’s Role in Competition: The study confirms that testosterone plays a crucial role in driving competitive behavior, particularly when it comes to seeking higher social status.
• The Importance of Social Context: The effects of testosterone on competition are not uniform but depend on an individual’s social context. Specifically, the stability of the hierarchy and one’s position within it influence whether testosterone increases or decreases competitive motivation.
• Opportunity Matters: Testosterone seems to boost the motivation to compete primarily when there is a chance to improve one’s social status. When status is stable or there is no opportunity for advancement, testosterone may have the opposite effect, reducing competitive drive.
• Individual Differences: The study also found that individual traits, such as dominance, and genetic factors can influence how testosterone affects competitive behavior. This highlights the complex interplay between biology, personality, and social context in shaping our competitive drive.

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​Can Playing Tetris Help You Deal with Trauma?​

What They Found: Before I ran a 4:01 mile as a high school runner at a professional track meet, I spent the hours leading up to the race playing with my Gameboy Advance. It was a way to deal with the stress. A fascinating series of studies have found that playing a game after experiencing high levels of stress might help prevent us from experiencing PTSD. In this review, researchers looked at studies that had parents play Tetris during and after when their young babies were in the neonatal unit. A stressful time for all. The review examined 13 studies and found that playing Tetris has the potential to minimize the impact of trauma by disrupting memory consolidation and reducing intrusive memories. Some evidence suggests Tetris has positive effects on the brain, such as increasing hippocampal volume and promoting neurogenesis.

Actionable Insights:

• Mental Tetris: The study suggests that playing Tetris can engage the brain’s visuospatial working memory resources, which can compete with and disrupt the consolidation of intrusive memories, potentially reducing their frequency and impact.
• Brain Training: The review highlights the potential for Tetris to increase hippocampal volume and promote neurogenesis, which may improve memory consolidation and learning, potentially aiding in coping with trauma.
• First-Aid for the Mind: The study suggests that Tetris could be considered a “first-aid” intervention for trauma, as it can be administered immediately after a traumatic event to minimize its impact on memory consolidation and reduce the development of intrusive memories.
• Cognitive Distraction: The review found that playing Tetris can distract the brain from processing traumatic memories, potentially reducing their emotional intensity and vividness.
• The Power of Play: The study highlights the potential therapeutic benefits of playing games, such as Tetris, in managing trauma-related symptoms. This suggests that engaging in playful activities can have positive effects on mental health and well-being.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to read my random musings on the latest science and research. Expect more of the same every month.

And as a reminder, don't forget to order WIN THE INSIDE GAME! It's 20% off!

1. Order the book today: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Bookshop.org​

2. Fill out THIS FORM.

All the best,

​Steve​

P.S. I am giving away a Free 14-day course on developing mental resilience. It's got 5+ hours of video content. It's free forever, no gimmicks. Just sign up here. It starts today!
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