Human performance may respond best to what matters most

In Don't Choke:What we value affects how we perform under pressure Olga Khazan writes about research which suggests that we have it wrong on why people choke.

What they found was that people who were very loss-averse (very afraid of forfeiting their money) did better when they were threatened with losing greater amounts. They choked, however, when offered a $100 award.

Meanwhile, those who weren't loss-averse (they didn't fear losing what they had) were mostly motivated by gaining more money. When threatened with losing $100, they fumbled.

In other words, human performance responds best to what matters most.