Comfort zone

2024-09-17T12:30:55Z

27.5.76.59: fixed typo

{{Short description|Psychological state}}
{{about|the psychological meaning|other uses|Comfort zone (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Comfort_zone.jpg|thumb|A Venn diagram of Comfort zone outside of which the optimal performance zone is present. Danger zone is marked in red.]]
<span lang="hy" dir="ltr">A</span> '''comfort zone''' is a familiar [[mental state|psychological state]] where people are at ease and (perceive they are) in [[Control (psychology)|control]] of their environment, experiencing low levels of [[anxiety]] and [[stress (psychological)|stress]].

Judith Bardwick defines the term as "a behavioral state where a person operates in an anxiety-neutral position."<ref name="Bardwick1995">{{cite book|first=Judith M. |last=Bardwick|title=Danger in the Comfort Zone: From Boardroom to Mailroom--how to Break the Entitlement Habit That's Killing American Business|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=rrJ_Ohzzm7oC}}|year=1995|publisher=AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn|isbn=978-0-8144-7886-8}}</ref> [[Brené Brown]] describes it as "Where our uncertainty, scarcity and vulnerability are minimized—where we believe we'll have access to enough love, food, talent, time, admiration. Where we feel we have some control."<ref name="NYT 2011">{{cite news|last1=Tugend|first1=Alina| title=Tiptoeing Out of One's Comfort Zone (and of Course, Back In)|work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/12/your-money/12shortcuts.html|accessdate=11 December 2014|date=11 February 2011}}</ref>

==Performance management==

Alasdair White refers to the "optimal performance zone", in which performance can be enhanced by some amount of stress.<ref name="White2009">{{cite book|first=Alasdair |last=White|title=From Comfort Zone to Performance Management: Understanding Development and Performance|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=H4R3MAEACAAJ}}|date=1 December 2009|publisher=White & MacLean Publishing|isbn=978-2-930583-01-3}}</ref> Beyond the optimum performance zone, lies the "danger zone" in which performance declines rapidly under the influence of greater anxiety.

However, stress in general can have an adverse effect on decision making: fewer alternatives are tried out<ref name=":0">Staal, Mark A. [https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20060017835 "Stress, cognition, and human performance: A literature review and conceptual framework."] (2004), NASA/TM-2004-212824, IH-054</ref> and more familiar strategies are used, even if they are not helpful anymore.<ref name=":0" />

Optimal [[performance management]] requires maximizing time in the optimal performance zone. The main target should be expanding the comfort zone and optimal performance zone.

==See also==
* [[Flow (psychology)]]
* [[Personal boundaries]]
* [[Yerkes–Dodson law]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
===Sources===
* {{cite journal |url=https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10289/992/Brown%20...?sequence=1 |format=pdf |last=Brown |first=M. |year=2008 |title=Comfort zone: Model or metaphor? |journal=Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=3-12}}
* {{cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nona-Kiknadze/publication/352065258_Comfort_zone_orientation_Individual_differences_in_the_motivation_to_move_beyond_one's_comfort_zone/links/60b80ca892851c209d5e4a7d/Comfort-zone-orientation-Individual-differences-in-the-motivation-to-move-beyond-ones-comfort-zone.pdf |format=pdf |author1=Kiknadze, N.C. |author2=Leary, M.R. |year=2021 |title=Comfort zone orientation: Individual differences in the motivation to move beyond one's comfort zone |journal=Personality and Individual Differences |volume=181 |publisher=[[Elsevier]] |doi=10.1016/j.paid.2021.111024}}
* {{cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mickey-Toftkjaer-Kongerslev/publication/330545816_Battles_of_the_Comfort_Zone_Modelling_Therapeutic_Strategy_Alliance_and_Epistemic_Trust-A_Qualitative_Study_of_Mentalization-Based_Therapy_for_Borderline_Personality_Disorder/links/5c477fed458515a4c739c148/Battles-of-the-Comfort-Zone-Modelling-Therapeutic-Strategy-Alliance-and-Epistemic-Trust-A-Qualitative-Study-of-Mentalization-Based-Therapy-for-Borderline-Personality-Disorder.pdf |format=pdf |author1=Folmo, E.J. |author2=Karterud, S.W. |author3=Kongerslev, M.T. |author4=Kvarstein, E.H. |author5=Stänicke, E. |year=2019 |title=Battles of the comfort zone: modelling therapeutic strategy, alliance, and epistemic trust—a qualitative study of mentalization-based therapy for borderline personality disorder |journal=Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy |volume=49 |issue=3 |pages=141-151}}
* {{cite journal |url=https://ajba.um.edu.my/index.php/PEMIMPIN/article/download/20768/10600 |format=pdf |author1=Suppiah, H. |author2=Govind, S.K.P. |year=2018 |title=Transforming Leadership Performance-Breaking Comfort-Zone Barriers |journal=Educational Leader (PEMIMPIN PENDIDIKAN) |volume=6 |pages=64-89}}
[[Category:Personality]]
[[Category:Sociological theories]]

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Comfort zone