Reasons For Success In Research

Having a Backup Plan Might be the Very Reason You Failed

Chris Napolitano | June 16, 2016

[...] Over the past few years, I’ve worked with Alexandra Freund, a professor of psychology at the University of Zurich, to unpack how a backup plan (or Plan B) affects the way we pursue our goals. Our core thesis is that backup plans change the way people pursue their goals, even if they never use the backup plan at all. In other words, backup plans are not inert: as they sit in your ‘back pocket’, they influence the way you use your Plan A. This effect can be positive. 

Source: http://www.ehps.net/ehp/index.php/contents/article/view/775/pdf_52

<more at https://aeon.co/ideas/having-a-backup-plan-might-be-the-very-reason-you-failed; related articles and links: https://blog.longreads.com/2016/06/16/the-invisible-forces-behind-all-of-our-decision-making/ (June 2016) and https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-expectations-affect-success-bert-shlensky?articleId=7212059477941661833 (How Expectations Affect Success. March 28, 2016)>