Have you heard about the ‘Batman Effect’? It is the practice of adopting an alter ego to help overcome anxiety, boost confidence and be better equipped to deal with challenging situations.

Examples of this technique have been shared by pop stars Beyonce and Adele to help them get over their nerves before performing on stage. It is well documented that Beyonce created ‘Sasha Fierce’ to allow her to perform with extra self-confidence. Her alter ego stayed with her until she felt she had matured enough to say goodbye to the psychological crutch. Adele followed suit and created ‘Sasha Carter’. The persona was a combination of Beyonce’s Sasha Fierce and the (real) country music star June Carter. Adele told Rolling Stone Magazine, back in 2011, that the strategy helped her give her best to every performance during her breakout year.

The alter ego method is not just a tool for pop stars to help them deal with stage fright, research suggests there may be some real psychological benefits to the strategy.   Rachel White, assistant professor of psychology at Hamilton College in New York State explains “self-distancing gives us a little bit of extra space to think rationally about a situation. It allows us to rein in undesirable feelings like anxiety, increase our perseverance on challenging tasks and boosts our self-control. 

For some, adopting an alter ego may seem a little extreme and view it as a gimmick for pop stars but there are aspects of self-distancing that can be applied to situations in everyday life. Research carried out at colleges and universities in America, found striking differences between the adopters of self-distancing versus others. One study asked participants to think about a challenging future event such as an important exam. The self-distancing group were taught to view the exam event from afar, as if they were a fly on the wall. Those with the distanced viewpoint were much less anxious and this also encouraged greater feelings of self-efficacy, the sense that they could pro-actively cope with the situation and achieve their goal. 

Another experiment asked participants to give a public talk, the fear of public speaking is a common anxiety for most people. Those encouraged to see the situation from an outside perspective were more easily able to master their anxiety and measures such as heart rate and blood pressure, usually associated with threatening events, were reduced. 

Maybe the next time you are faced with a difficult situation and need to keep your emotions in check you’ll embrace your alter-ego – cape optional!