Want to Rebound from Failure? Feel the Pain.

• Position: PSYCHOLOGY

Feeling the pain of failure leads to more effort to correct your mistake than simply thinking about what went wrong, according to a study from the University of Kansas, Lawrence; Stanford (Calif.) University; and Ohio State University, Columbus.

Researchers found that people who merely think about a failure tend to make excuses for why they were unsuccessful and then do not try harder when faced with a similar situation. In contrast, people who focus on their emotions following a failure put forth more effort when they try again.

"All the advice tells you not to dwell on your mistakes, to not feel bad, but we found the opposite," says coauthor Selin Malkoc, professor of marketing at OSU. "When faced with a failure, it is better to focus on one's emotions. When people concentrate on how bad they feel and how they don't want to experience these feelings again, they are more likely to try harder the next time."

While thinking about how to improve from past mistakes might...