The importance of moral support on performance

(Image: Pixabay CC0) Can moral support drive us to perform at our best? Using a unique case in football, Professor Fabrizio Colella's research shows how moral support from fans can profoundly affect footballers' performance. Moral support is a crucial aspect of our daily interactions, but there is little scientific evidence of its impact on behaviour and productivity. Measuring its effects is challenging since isolating its influence from other factors is difficult. Those who perform better in school, work, or sports are more likely to receive praise and encouragement than those who perform less well. Additionally, moral support may be accompanied by other forms of help, such as a teacher suggesting a solution to a problem, along with encouragement. Fabrizio Colella, professor at IdEP, USI Institute of Economics, addressed this issue together with Patricio Dalton (Tilburg University) and Giovanni Giusti (TecnoCampus Mataró, Barcelona), in a new and innovative research paper published in the journal Management Science (doi.org/10.1287/mnsc. The researchers managed to quantify the impact of moral support by analysing a natural experiment.