The Batman Effect – Creating an Alternate You

 

How can you keep moving when something is frustrating, painful, or boring? One way of making it through the circumstances that are devised to compel you to give up is to form an alter ego who always leverages the opportunity.

This is called "the Batman Effect"- coined owing to Bruce Wayne's continuous struggle to suppress obstacles being a mere mortal – that refers to kids doing better in tasks if they simulate some other character, who is majorly successful in those tasks.

Earlier investigations have revealed that kids pretending to be proficient media characters continue longer on tedious tasks and do better on executive function tasks versus kids thinking about themselves from the first-person point of view. Taking the viewpoint of individuals more efficiently than themselves enables kids to reflect on the challenge and perceive it from various angles. It forms mental space or “psychological distance” between themselves and the effort-intensive task and helps them picturing an exemplar.

A 2016 study at the University of Minnesota showcased the perks of self-distancing – looking at one’s own situation from outsiders’ perspective – on kids’ perseverance. Six- and four-year-old kids were asked to accomplish a recurring task for 10 minutes while having the choice to take breaks by playing an exceptionally alluring video game. Across both the age groups, kids simulating a role model – here a character like the Batman – dedicated the majority of the time toiling, followed by kids taking a third-person perspective on self, or eventually, a first-person perspective.

No matter you’re striving to influence your kids to clean up their room or trying to motivate them to finish their homework, the Batman Effect may offer them the encouragement they need. Check them at regular intervals by asking. “How’s it going in there, Batman?” You’ll certainly see they’re able to do better than usual. Every time your kids successfully keep going, they’ll establish the mental power they require to do demanding jobs. And the more confident they become, the more hurdles they’ll deal with.

It’s difficult to instill kids with mental strength and perseverance in the contemporary world. Technology allows for immediate contentment and our digital gadgets provide a simple escape when things seem to go out of our hands. Young children have reduced attention spans and patience than ever when things are going south. Without endurance, kids might turn into adults who give up whenever they confront a challenge. That might mean quitting a job when they don’t get a pay raise or ending relationships each time they confront communication difficulties. The good thing is that endurance is a quality that can be ingrained, even in the era of technology.

Simply call Batman for help.

Not Only for Kids, but For Adults Too

One way to overcome the chaos we live in is to create our alter ego, and to imagine the way that alter ego would manage the problem at hand.

Lots of decisions are made spontaneously, even by those we would’ve anticipated knowing better. A tincture of self-distancing can do wonders. That could mean, case in point, ceasing to doubt “gut” feelings. What mistakes do they keep committing? What do they show? All of us have behavioral patterns, many good, few not. Impeding the bad ones could involve backing off.

Embracing an alter ego is an intense form of ‘self-distancing that consists of backing off from our instant emotions to let us see a situation more impartially. And this has influenced some think tanks to wonder if it can also enhance aspects of self-control such as determination, by ensuring that we stay glued to our goals despite getting distracted.

In this vein, an experiment was conducted wherein people were asked whether they could better concentrate on challenging word puzzles if they had been asked to exercise self-distancing before the analysis. Here, they were asked to offer advice to themselves from the second-person perspective – “You will focus on every question” – as if they were interacting with an acquaintance instead of themselves. Apart from enhancing overall performance, the results could also be observed in questionnaires gauging their attitudes to the task, revealing a stronger intention to step up their performance.

By strengthening their sense of self-control, self-distancing can also enhance the health behavior of people. It can improve their intention to practice, case in point, and aids them to resist the urge of junk food. This is no mean feat. Some self-control strategies to date have positively enhanced eating outcomes.

Would Batman be able to resist a cheeseburger? See that’s the trick. Don’t ask, “Do I want a cookie?” Rather, ask: “Does my separate self want a cookie?”

Ego vs. Alter Ego

In comics, Peter Parker works as a photographer for the Daily Bugle, and Bruce Wayne runs his enterprise during the day. That said, both have a counter-crime alter ego who appears when needed. Parker has Spider-Man and Wayne has Batman.

Crafting an alter ego can help you move out of your comfort zone. After all, each time that you’re thinking to try something different, the tiny voice in your head – your ego – starts with its humming – What will people think? What if no one buys what you are selling? What if you look stupid? That’s when an alter ego enters.

The ego says – “But what will they say?” The alter ego says - “Don’t these people have anything else to do instead of bitching about others? They can believe what they want. Their thoughts won’t hinder my way of living my life to the full.” The ego says – “That’s too dangerous. I shouldn’t go for that.” The alter ego says – “That sounds intriguing!” So, you let the Batman outrun your ego and take entire control of the project you’re currently working on.

Moving from your ego to your alter ego will let you switch characters. You’ll have a plethora of opportunities wherein you could be gutsy and let off your hang-ups. Leverage that plethora of opportunities to drive against your comfort zone and try anything new. Certainly, you know you’re alter ego isn’t anybody else – it’s you. Yet it’s a part that turns up when the doubts arise or the going gets tough.

A well-informed alter ego can help you fill the gap between where you are now and where you wish to be. 

Creating Your Alter Ego

The key to crafting your alter ego is to recognize the emotions and thoughts of a particular individual who has what you’re after and become that individual.

Follow these six steps if you want to craft your alter ego:

Figure out why you’re looking for an alter ego – What do you expect to achieve by crafting an alter ego? Do you want to create a persona that will fetch you more Instagram followers or blog readers? Do you want to be more confident, outgoing, or unique? Give your alter ego a job, a mission, or a purpose.

Determine your alter ego’s personality - What sort of individual does your alter ego has to be in a bid to meet the goal for which it was crafted? What’s their thought process? How do they think? You alter ego’s personality can even be an image of your ideal self – the personality you’d prefer to have.

Form a unique image – You might be jeans or t-shirt sort of person, yet your alter ego is in-trend all the way. Or maybe your alter ego prefers hooded sweatshirts or wears only black. Does your alter ego have an idiosyncrasy? What does their voice sound like? How do they walk or talk? The more info you can find out about your alter ego, the simpler it’ll be for you to dwell in their character.

Choose a name – Try to come up with a name that is material and has meaning. You can derive the name from that of someone you admire, or the name of your favorite superhero. Also, you can just add an adjective to your name, like “the Great”, or use your own name spelled in reverse.

Follow a mantra or a Call to Action – A Call to Action (CTA) can help you in invoking your alter ego when they’re required. If you’re an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva, you can use mantras like “Om Namah Shivay” to switch to your alter ego. Or create your own phrase.

Act as they would act - You’re not simply crafting an alter ego to escape into a James Bond fantasy world. Rather, you’re developing an alter ego to help you behave in a manner that will let you meet your goals. The moment you’ve formed your alter ego, you have to ask yourself how they would behave with regards to meeting the goal that you established them for. After that, move forward to act in that manner.

Once you figure out the alter ego that suits you, channelize it to that particular domain and don’t stay glued to one ego for every role. Don’t send the Batman to buy your essentials.

~ Vatsal Jain (LinkedIn, Instagram)