Do tabuleiro para a vida: transferência de habilidades treinadas no jogo de xadrez para outros contextos

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effect of chess practice on the adoption of the life history strategy, on levels of focused attention, self-efficacy, self-control, procrastination and resilience in adults and adolescents. To achieve this purpose, instruments were applied to assess the aforementioned variables in a sample of 225 participants, composed of adolescents (14 to 17 years old) and adults (18 to 57 years old), both age groups divided into subgroups of chess practitioners and nonpractitioners. The results of the analyzes indicated that no differences were observed between groups and genders for a life history strategy variable. For the focused attention variable, it was observed that only the Adult Chess Players group had higher focused attention than the other groups. With regard to the procrastination variable, it was observed that the Adult Chess Players group had a lower procrastination score than adolescents chess players and non-chess players, but it was observed a similar value comparing with adults who are not chess players. We also observe that Adult Chess Players showed higher resilience and self-efficacy than the other groups. The research and findings in the present study shed light on the importance of understanding how behaviors not directly linked to contexts of academic and professional conduct (such as games, sports and leisure time) can affect our performance, our choices and our cognitive functions.