Can You Really Learn from Your Mistakes? New Research Reveals the Difficulty Is Beyond Imagination

People often associate growth with learning from mistakes, but recent research suggests that we may be overly optimistic in believing that failure always leads to valuable lessons.

The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, points out a misconception held by many people: the belief that, in certain situations, such as after failing a bar exam, individuals often bounce back and succeed. However, this common perception may not be accurate.

Dr. Lauren Eskreis-Winkler, an assistant professor of management and organizations at Northwestern University, is the lead author of the study. She notes that an overly optimistic view of the learning potential after failure can hinder people from developing practical plans and achieving real progress. She emphasizes, "Those who are overly optimistic and overestimate the likelihood of success after failure often do not take concrete steps to build resilience. This does not mean that success after failure is impossible; it's just that we shouldn't take it for granted."

The study also reveals other important findings and provides expert advice to help people increase their success rate after failure.

The research team analyzed online survey data from 1,800 American adults to assess their attitudes towards success after failure. The survey results showed that participants generally overestimated the number of people who could successfully bounce back after experiencing setbacks. For example, they greatly exaggerated the proportion of lawyers, teachers, and nurses who pass standardized exams they initially failed, as well as the number of drug addicts who successfully quit and heart failure patients who change their lifestyles to improve their health.

Furthermore, due to this overly optimistic belief, participants were also less likely to take practical actions. For instance, when unaware of the 91% relapse rate of opioid addicts in the first year, they were more likely to support allocating taxes for rehabilitation programs.

So, why is it so difficult to learn from failure? Dr. Eskreis-Winkler suggests that learning from failure is often more challenging than learning from success. Dr. Yvette Sheline, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, agrees with this view. She points out that the brain releases dopamine as a reward for success, thereby establishing patterns of success. However, this does not mean that we cannot learn from failure. Dr. Sheline believes that making mistakes can be a powerful learning experience because it is unexpected and deserves our attention.

Dr. Hillary Amman, a clinical psychologist, further notes that whether failure is beneficial depends on various factors, such as personal motivation, emotional response to failure, and mental health status. Additionally, the importance of the event can also affect the ease of learning from failure. For example, failing a qualification exam or a significant life event may be harder to learn from than everyday incidents.

So, how can we use failure to help us succeed in the future? Psychologists offer the following advice:

Firstly, allow yourself to reflect on the experience of failure. Instead of avoiding or glossing over the facts, give yourself time to carefully consider the causes and feelings associated with the failure.

Secondly, pay attention to the problems exposed by the failure. Reflect on whether there were deficiencies in your preparation time, strategy selection, etc., and strive for improvement.

Thirdly, consciously learn from failure. When faced with failure, we may fall into a self-protective dilemma, but only by consciously deciding to use this opportunity to learn can we reduce the likelihood of making the same mistake again.

Lastly, maintain a realistic attitude. Understand the actual ratio between success and failure and avoid overly optimistic beliefs about the power of failure. At the same time, even if failure makes us feel discouraged, we should not lose hope. Self-confidence and reflection on the causes of failure will help us learn better and face future challenges.