Psychological report on the influence of a mantra
Abstract:
This study is to investigate whether performance of horse and rider will change when using a mantra. This study is being performed because I believe mantras are necessary throughout life and this study will help to prove or disprove this. There will be 100 random horse riders at level 2 showjumping, completing a 12 jump course in a indoor arena. They will be placed in two groups according to them using a mantra or not(50 in each). A stop watch will be used to assess the independent design groups and then they will be ranked in order of time. Overall the findings showed that the use of a mantra greatly increases performance because there was 26 more riders that completed the course in under a minute in the mantra group. Overall I believe this study will help improve people's performance throughout life with the use of mantras. I also believe this study is very reliable because there is a major increase in performance and there are also other studies that support the use of mantras.

Hypothesis/aim:
I will be investigating the effects on performance in horse riders when using a mantra or not. The independent variable is the mantra and the dependant variable is performance of the rider
Null hypothesis: there will be no significant difference in the performance of the riders when using a mantra. Any difference will be due to chance.
Experimental hypothesis:. Riders will perform significantly better when using a mantra.
I chose this experiment because I believe it is important to have a mantra throughout life and I was curious to the effect it has on performance and throughout life. Previous research on the use of mantra with help support my hypothesis such as a new Harvard study published by the American Psychological Association, which found that affirmative statements like “I’m excited” helped people improve their performance compared to self-pep talks that urged relaxation such as “I am calm.”
"People have a very strong intuition that trying to calm down is the best way to cope with their anxiety, but that can be very difficult and ineffective," said study author Alison Wood Brooks in a statement.
"When people feel anxious and try to calm down, they are thinking about all the things that could go badly. When they are excited, they are thinking about how things could go well."
The results of the study are based on several different experiments. In one experiment, 140 participants were instructed to prepare a public speech on why they would be good work partners. Researchers videotaped the speeches and participants were told they would be judged by a committee to increase anxiety levels.
Before delivering their spiel, subjects were instructed to say either “I am excited” or “I am calm.” Judges found that those who made the first statement were more persuasive, competent and relaxed, the study says.
Similar results were observed during a math exam, with those who psyched themselves up with the mantra “I am excited” scoring an impressive eight percent higher on average compared to the “I am calm” and control groups.
In a karaoke experiment in which participants’ heart rates were monitored with a pulse meter, again singers who repeated the mantra “I am excited” scored an average of 80% on the karaoke machine which measures pitch, rhythm and volume. Those instructed to tell themselves they were calm, angry or sad scored 69%.
Method:
I will use a random sample of horse riders that are at level 2 showjumping these will be selected by a random name out of a hat. The sample size will be 100 riders. The participants will be asked to jump a course of 12 jumps in a indoor arena that is in silence. 50 of the participants will be asked to use a mantra such as ‘I'm going to win’. The others will complete the course as usual. Once the course of jumps is completed they will overall be assessed on speed but there is a 2 second time penalty for refusals or knock downs.
I will provide a consent form specifying that their horse riding will be being assessed and the participants using a mantra will be told their performance is being assessed when the pay use the mantra. At the end of the experiment the participants will be informed of their results and then asked if they would like the results to be anonymous or confidential.
Standardised instructions: group 1
Warm your horse up in the arena for 10 minutes
Enter the indoor arena when signalled to
Complete course of 70cm
You will be assessed on speed and time penalties will be given for refusals and knock downs.
The time will finish when land from the final jump Standardised instructions: group 2
Select mantra you want to use
Warm your horse up in the arena for 10 minutes repeating the mantra
Enter the indoor arena when signalled to
Complete course of 70cm repeating the mantra throughout
You will be assessed on speed and time penalties will be given for refusals and knock downs.
The time will finish when land from the final jump
The groups are done using independent measures so there will be different people in each group this is to minimise order effect such as fatigue or memorisation of the course.

Results:
I found that the participants that used the mantra performed better overall. Participants that didn't had much slower times with more refusals and knock downs.
Out of the 50 that used a mantra 38 of them completed the course in under 1 minute whereas only 12 of them not using a mantra completed it in under 1 minute.
Group 1 (no mantra)
Mode: 1:07
Group 2 (mantra)
Mode: 56.02
This shows that the participants that used the mantra had a much lower overall speed. Therefore showing that using a mantra positively effects performance.
Discussion:
The use of the mantra sets a positive mind set allowing them to perform to their best ability and encourages them to be competitive and win. Whereas not using a mantra allows fear and anxiety take over and make the rider back off from jumps therefore making the horse unsure and knock downs more frequent.
Although the there may be implications to using horse riders to test this hypothesis because horses are unpredictable and you cannot predict how they will perform on the day. Although the horse is largely influenced by the rider and how they ride, there still is a possibility that the horse may refuse a jump just because it decides not too.
Thus can be overcome by repeating the study again on a different day to see how they perform again. Another issue is that the participant has to be willing and able to jump the jumps set out because if an injury happens to the horse or rider it will be blamed on the experiment.
References:
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/mantras-ace-tests-speeches-article-1.1558847