Does success call for success?

What is success for you? Do you know the winning effect? Do you know why success calls for success?

In this Psychology-Online article, Does success call for success? The winning effect, we talk about the concept of success and explain the biological reasons why one victory generates the next.

Index

1. What is success?
2. The effect of success
3. Causes of success

The word success has its origin in the Latin term exitus, which means exit and is understood as the satisfactory end result of a circumstance. The established definition of success is thehappy result of an action taken or an event. In this way, success is understood as the fact of freely obtaining what you want, achieving a purpose or reaching a goal.

We can consider a success every time we achieve something that we wanted to achieve, as it is the final purpose of all the projects we undertake in any area of ​​our life. However, the meaning of success is subjective and relative to each person's goals, objectives, beliefs, expectations, and circumstances.

It is worth mentioning some phrases about the success that certain personalities have proposed:

Success is learning to go from failure to failure without despairing. (Winston Churchill). That is, it is necessary to make mistakes, learn from them, and above all, maintain an attitude that encourages success.

Success is achieved by turning each step into a goal and each goal into a step. (C.C. Cortéz). He is not the only author who relates success with perseverance and perseverance.

Success and happiness

Is success the same as happiness? It depends on the perspective of each person, but, in general, no. They are not the same, however, they are closely related. Success is getting to the top, while happiness consists in enjoying the road. While success consists in achieving what is desired, the concept of happiness it implies a sense of well-being and greater satisfaction with oneself. You can be successful without being happy, however, when you are happy, you are successful, as you have achieved the goal most desired by humanity.

Physiological effect of success

On a physiological level, the effect of success, like other rewarding stimuli, such as food, drink or sexual intercourse, are related to the brain reward system, that is, the brain areas responsible for motivation.

Responsible for the reward system is the mesolimbic circuit, which is composed of dopaminergic projections ranging from ventral tagmental area, a group of dopaminergic neurons from the midbrain, towards the limbic system, that is, to a set of structures in charge of emotions. More specifically: the amygdala, which regulates emotions; the ventral palium; the hippocampus and the nucleus accumbens, which controls the release of dopamine and is responsible for the sensation of pleasure. The projections are also directed towards cortical areas such as the prefrontal cortex, responsible for making decisions and directing behavior, the orbitofrontal cortex and the cingulum. In the image below you can see these parts.

The dopamine It is a neurotransmitter from the group of catecholamines, mainly responsible for the sensation of pleasure and motivation. It has a great importance in the Mesolimbic way.

The objective of this system is to associate certain situations with a feeling of pleasure, making us learn what actions are good for us and we are motivated to repeat them again in the future. Its purpose is to adapt our behavior to the survival and evolution of ourselves and of the species.

When you get something you want, dopamine rises, just like giving a hug. Therefore, the fact winning causes an increase in normal concentrations of the neurotransmitter in the brain, producing that sensation of pleasure.

Psychological effect of success

On a psychological level, success brings:

• Joy and positive mood
• Satisfaction and personal well-being
• Self-confidence and greater perception of self-efficacy
• Increased motivation
• Greater dedication and effort

Success is not achieved by chance. Here we explain the causes of success:

• Accept challenges, accept new experiences, want to innovate, be motivated and have initiative.
• Establish well defined goals and objectives, that they are clear and, above all, that it is possible to achieve them. Know how to divide the objectives into steps and establish short and medium term dates.
• Self-knowledge. Know yourself, know your own strengths to lean on and the weaknesses to work on.
• The self-esteem, self-concept and self-image. Have a realistic image of yourself based on the self-knowledge and value yourself positively. Trust in yourself and in their capabilities. It is important that the person has realistic expectations and, above all, believes in himself.
• Thepersonality and way of being. There are beliefs, attitudes, values ​​and strategies that allow us to generate habits and responses conducive to achievement.
• Work way intelligent and constant. Be attentive, observe, detect and channel the effort in what really deserves it in a uniform and prolonged way over time.
• Seize every opportunity. Know how to identify needs and find solutions. Turn problems into challenges.
• Be flexible and flow. Have the ability to adapt to situations and learn to change when the situation requires it.
• The resilience: develop the ability to learn and grow in the face of adversity.
• Commitment and perseverance. Be fully committed to the objective, being clear that what forms a priority must be given part of achieving it and reject distractions, as well as pay full attention and strive.
• The experience, that is to say, having had the experience of success, since the experience of success makes it possible to achieve it again. This is known as the winning effect. Below we delve into this concept.

The winning effect

The experience of success improves mood, self-confidence, motivation, concentration, and effortlessness. This state, together with everything learned, leads to success again. That is why it is said that success calls for success, because it feeds back and success after success is chained. It has been proven that, for example, in the world of sports, the winner of a match has a 60% probability of also winning in the next game or competition. Even students who have passed one test are more likely to pass the next.

The author of the winning effect is Ian Robertson, a neuroscientist and clinical psychologist, who explains how, after winning a first challenge, the chances of winning the next one increase due to causes physiological. The experience of winning increases the concentration of dopamine whose effect of well-being and motivation prepares us to face the next challenge. The level of testosterone, increasing the speed of reaction and reducing fear: encouraging risk. All this, finally, increases the chances of success.

The winning effect helps success, but it should be known that it can also be dangerous, since it can become an addiction, whose main danger is excessive risk taking.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Does success call for success? - The winning effect, we recommend that you enter our category of Personal growth and self-help.

• Ian Robertson, "The Winner Effect" [Video], YouTube, 02/04/2016, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch? v = asGZlHxsLY8
• Luna, M. (2015). Psychology of success. Corre La Voz, s.l.
• Pásaro, M. R. (2002). Biological bases of happiness (Vol. 18). Sevilla University.