South African cricket has struggled against the "chokers" tag for decades and it would be naive to think it hasn't played on the minds of everyone in their squad at some point or another.
They took a huge step away from that reputation by upsetting the odds to beat Australia in the World Test Championship final and Van der Dussen says it has made a huge impact on the mental side of their game.
"It feels like there's a difference. Maybe it's boiled over from winning the Test Championship because we won that match when it counts, so it's almost like we can experiment more," he said.
Test head coach Shuki Conrad took over the white ball coaching duties after Rob Walters resigned from the position for personal reasons early this year.
Van der Dussen believes Conrad has been able to bring some of the confidence from the Test side into the one-day formats.
"It's obviously Shukri [Conrad]'s first time in charge of the white-ball sides, but the mindset is different. We are not trying things for the sake of trying it, or guys being chosen for the sake of being chosen," he said.
"It's about trying things with the understanding that it's okay if you get it wrong, but you can only get to the other side if you try it properly and authentically. What Shukri brings in terms of environment, and in terms of a mindset, is that freedom.
"There's obviously responsibility, and we want to win every match. Shukri has said that many times, and we want to win every match that we play, but we are also encouraged to be our best version, play the way we want to play, and play the way the team wants to play.
"If we fall short, that's okay, we fall short on our terms. We'll try to be better next time. There's no pressure from a management point of view. We know what's expected of us."
Sai Sudharsan's maiden Test fifty offered India stability on a grinding first day of the Manchester Test, but Rishabh Pant's worrying foot injury overshadowed a tense, low-scoring battle with England.
Defending champions South Africa were eliminated from the Women's Africa Cup of Nations by Nigeria in their massively entertaining semi-final clash on Tuesday evening.
The Proteas slipped to a second defeat against New Zealand in the T20I tri-series in Harare after going down by seven wickets on Tuesday in what was a dress-rehearsal for the tournament's final.
India captain Shubman Gill believes England's behaviour during the third Test at Lord's was against the "spirit" of the game, as the hosts went on to win.
