Exercise–a popular remedy for everything from weight gain to low self-esteem–may just change your thinking too.
According to a study of female athletes at the University of California at Berkeley, different sports can promote different ways of thinking.
Among the athletes surveyed by human biodynamics professor Brenda Bredemeier — including cyclists, runners, wind-surfers and rock climbers — intercollegiate field hockey players tended to value authority above their own opinions.
Non-competitive athletes in individual activities such as biking, windsurfing and running trusted their own knowledge before that of others. By contrast, mountaineers develop a sophisticated way of thinking incorporating their own observations and team members to forge a complete and evolving view of the world.
You don’t have to scale Mt. Everest to advance your cognition, however.
To emphasize interdependence along with individualism, Bredemeier suggests acquiring a training partner in an individual sport or adding a recreational team sport, such as volleyball, to your individual athlete endeavors.