Psych approach to ladder anxiety - Page 8

On December 22 2011 04:33 Mohdoo wrote:
Anyone else feel like this should be featured maybe? :x

On January 03 2012 03:27 dearyuna wrote:
As a fellow psych major, I find this an extremely interesting read. However, I would also like to add onto this and raise up some new areas of discussion on this topic.
First of all, from a CBT perspective, you're spot-on. MMA (link) talked about the method to his madness in his post GSL win interview. He said multiple times that the key was to stay calm and focused; freaking out just threw off his focus. He also emphasized the importance of a solid support system (in his case, in the form of Team SlayerS.)

Your article is very good for the casual or independent gamer, but I would just like to throw another point of perspective out there. As all psychology majors know, there's also a strong cross-cultural difference in motivation. Many of the interviews that I've read of pro-starcraft players always emphasize the need to achieve more and to appease their audience. It was just really interesting to see this difference even within your post. For example, the thread starter posted:

+ Show Spoiler +

A lot of people often wonder how Starcraft 2 Korean players achieve a level of ability often believe to be impossible. The questions that they ask themselves not only revolve around themselves, but around other people. For example, a serious starcraft player on a professional team in Korea may think "How disappointed will ______ be in me? fans/family/friends/team." Thus, I feel like Korean gamers set standards for themselves that are almost-to-the-point-of-ridiculousness-ly high. Unlike many other individuals in different cultures, a lot of East Asians are more open to criticism and are definitely critical of themselves. I know I'm also overgeneralizing, but many Korean students think in the same fashion when studying. In addition, their definition of "high-stress levels" can also differ.

I totally agree with partysnatcher posted; you definitely learn a lot more from when you lose than when you win. I just thought this might be a good side-insight from a different perspective

On January 04 2012 03:43 newron wrote:
First of all, I want to say the OP has made a fantastic post, and I agree with all the theory behind it. However, I'd like to offer a more action-based solution (which still follows the cognitive-behavioral theories presented by the OP).

I have found that the best way (for me) to overcome debilitating ladder fear is by not just redefining (in one's head) what it means to lose and what one's expectations should be, but to actually act out - strictly - those new definitions. Let me be more concrete. I was able to overcome ladder fear by deciding that I would not try to win games. Rather, I would try to improve some feature of my game every time I played (such as micro, always making workers, general macro, speed, ability to play aggressively, etc. - really it can be anything you want to improve).

Let's take the example of always making workers. In game, if I noticed that I failed to meet my goal of making workers frequently enough, then I lost. Therefore, I would abruptly GG out of the game. According to my rule, I had lost - it had nothing to do with whether or not I was able to defeat my opponent.

After doing this over and over, not only will your skill skyrocket, but you will find that laddering is much less scary. After all, all this time, you've been quitting games according to your own criteria, independent of the other player. What's to fear, really?

Everyone has to find their own solution to ladder anxiety. I suggest others to try this out.