It’s Time to “Bump” You Up
“High fives and fist bumps … have a lot to say about the cooperative workings of a team ….” Kraus, Huang, and Keltner (2010)
Those of you who’ve been around me know that expressing encouragement and connection is important to me, and one of my favorite ways of doing so is to share a smiling, look-you-in-the-eyes greeting accompanied by a high-five, fist-bump, or elbow-bump when I see you. It is important to me that you feel seen. This behavior has been reduced over the past 3 years to smile-with-my-eyes smiles and “air bumps” or an occasional “daring” elbow bump. All this made the recent AAFP Physician Well-being Conference feel all the more exhilarating as I was able to break out my full repertoire once again with hundreds of kindred spirits who were equally eager to reconnect.
Since we humans are relational by nature, it should come as no surprise that there is evidence that such physical connection likely helps to improve team performance and promotes cooperation and trust – even at the level of professional athletes. In 2010, Michael Kraus and colleagues published a study titled “Tactile Communication, Cooperation, and Performance: An Ethological Study of the NBA” (Link). Their hypothesis was that in group competition, physical touch would predict increases in both individual and group performance.
They focused their analysis on 12 distinct types of touch that occurred when two or more players were in the midst of celebrating a positive play that helped their team (e.g., making a shot). These celebratory touches included fist bumps, high fives, chest bumps, leaping shoulder bumps, chest punches, head slaps, head grabs, low fives, high tens, full hugs, half hugs, and team huddles.
Consistent with their premise, those teams with higher early season touch achieved greater performance for both individuals and teams later in the season, even after accounting for player status, preseason expectations, and early season performance. This success appeared to be explained by greater cooperative behaviors between teammates in the higher-touch groups. And while the authors acknowledged these results were not immediately applicable to other groups, they did wonder as to how the cumulative effect of such seemingly insignificant acts might enhance group cooperation and performance in other settings.
Of course, none of our care teams are vying for an NBA title and we’re certainly not going to high-five and fist-bump our way out of our present challenges. At the same time, I would undoubtedly rather be part of a team in which we’re both addressing the needs of the group AND regularly acknowledging and encouraging each other while carrying out our good and challenging work. If high-fives and fist-bumps provide a needed boost for elite athletic teams, they certainly seem worth a try in the clinical setting. At the least, doing so would likely “bump you up” for the day, and we could sure all use some of that right now.