The penalty kick is a well-practiced skill for elite footballers. Credit: Bigandt.com/ShutterstockThis is one of the most powerful stereotypes in international sport: England's national football team has poor record at penalty shootouts. This stereotype is often used when England finds themselves in the knockout stages of an international tournament. It's most prominent when England faces historical rivals Germany.This rivalry has seen two intense penalty shootouts. Both ended in English heads being held in English hands while the Germans celebrate. Parts of the country are already resigned as England faces Germany in the round 16 knockout phase. The stereotype says that England will lose if the game is to be decided by penalties.Research suggests that England's poor penalties perception may be affecting England's players. This could lead to them performing worse when taking a spot-kick. This suggests that the perpetuation of this stereotype isn’t just inconsequential patterit from pundits. It may actually hinder England’s players from performing well when they take the spot.While England is poor at penalty shootouts across the World Cup, Euros and World Cup, it's not surprising. England has won two of eight shootouts that they have encountered. Germany has won six of seven. England's record is among the worst in international football, while Germany has one of its best.There's also history. Six years after England suffered the same fate against the same opponents at the 1990 World Cup, England lost on penalties to Germany in the semi-finals of Euro 1996. England has never defeated Germany in knockout matches that were decided at the penalty spot.Due to the stark differences in fortunes, England and Germany have a stereotype of being terrible at penalties. Germany facing England from that spot is especially dangerous. This stereotype has been firmly ingrained in footballing folklore by journalists, pundits, and academics.Stereotype dangersResearch suggests that this stereotype could be detrimental to England's chances of winning future penalty shootouts. This is because people fear that their performance will reinforce negative stereotypes about the group they belong to.Studies have shown that girls perform worse when they are reminded of negative stereotypes regarding women's maths skills before they start solving math problems. Fear of being a stereotype reduces brain bandwidth and limits their ability to solve problems. Research shows that stereotypes are most harmful to those who are skilled and invested in their performance.Stereotype threats can be used in sporting tasks to make it seem like they operate differently. This is because experts in sports skills are highly automatic and can be optimised when performed without conscious control. One such skill is the penalty kick.Penalty-taking is disrupted when athletes focus on their performance step-by-step, which interrupts the execution of the skill. Contrary to the working memory idea, stereotype threats in sports may actually impact performance. They not only shift attention away form the execution of the skill but encourage too much focus on it.Sporting stereotypesStereotype threats have been investigated in a variety of sports including tennis, basketball, and tennis.White men who play basketball are often reminded that they can't jump, and their performance suffers. When reminded of a stereotype about women's natural athletic abilities, tennis serves women worse than men. Studies have shown that women who are told they are not good at football dribble and shoot worse than men.We have also examined the stereotype that England is terrible at penalty shootouts. The majority of our research participants agreed that England is terrible at penalty shootouts when compared to other men's football nations.When they were reminded about this stereotype, the penalties that English footballers received from our study were lower. Players who were challenged to question this stereotype performed better. They were less concerned about "messing things up" and were able take their penalties without being burdened by England's many years of penalty woes.The stereotypes are out!If the current England team wants to improve their record in penalty shootouts, it could be as simple as questioning the penalty stereotype. Fans and media must stop perpetuating the myth that England is terrible at penalty shootouts.Fans should not groan at the idea of a shootout, and the media should refrain from mentioning penalties. Players who believe everyone thinks they're going down on penalties will be encouraged to monitor their performance and to subsequently lose their natural, unaffected skill.It's crucial that coaches and players actively resist negative stereotypes. For example, players could remind one another that they score penalties every day when playing for their clubs teams so they don't have to be afraid of doing the same in international football.The penalty stereotype has one positive. Our research has shown that athletes can be motivated by negative feedback from the opposing team. Germany's fans are more than happy to refer to England's poor penalty shootout record. The England team could use this feedback to show that losing penalties, if it happens, is not inevitable.Continue reading Head to toe: A study reveals brain activity behind missed penaltiesThis article was republished by The Conversation under Creative Commons. You can read the original article.
