SESSION OVERVIEW
To achieve optimal outcomes and sustainable development, students must have belief in their educators, support systems, and institutional environment. Student service professionals can strategically use language, communication, and environment design to positively influence student outcomes. This phenomenon has sometimes been described as a placebo effect. However, placebo effects are increasingly reframed as ‘belief effects,’ because for any intervention to work optimally, the student must believe it will be effective.
Belief in the efficacy of a program, service, or support intervention can be shaped through social learning—highlighting the importance of student-staff relationships, communication, and shared experiences in influencing behaviour, motivation, and academic or personal outcomes. Students are deeply influenced by their campus environment, and this social context can play a critical role in shaping their success and wellbeing.
Student service professionals can enhance belief through the words they use, their delivery style, and the way support environments are structured, leading to measurable improvements in student engagement, wellbeing, and performance. Recent evidence from sport and health psychology suggests that belief effects can activate neurobiological pathways that influence performance and recovery. Striking examples include performance improvements linked to perceived efficacy of interventions, the therapeutic potential of belief in managing stress and anxiety, and how environmental cues shape student confidence and capability.
This presentation will explore the science behind belief effects, showcasing research and real-world examples that highlight how belief shapes student outcomes across academic, wellbeing, and co-curricular contexts. It will provide practical strategies for student service professionals to enhance belief through communication, environment design, and program delivery—demonstrating the powerful role of the belief effect in creating exceptional student experiences and supporting student success.
PRESENTER
Vince Kelly is an Associate Professor at the School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, specialising in strength and conditioning and sport science research. He has authored five book chapters and over 90 peer reviewed papers in the areas of sport performance, strength and conditioning, recovery and sport nutrition. He has received over $2million in external and internal research grant funding. With over 20 years of experience in elite sport, he has worked with professional football teams, the Queensland Academy of Sport, and individual athletes. His research focuses on fatigue and recovery in athletes, strength and conditioning in high-performance sport, mental fatigue, training load management, mental health and the physiological effects of exercise. He is renowned for bridging the gap between research and practical application.