The defeat of the Russian team in the finals of the World Hockey Championship brought her “silver”. The result was perceived as a tragedy by both fans and players, and previous successes faded into the shadows. Why does failure on the verge of final victory hurt so much?
The ice hockey match between Russia and Canada, labeled “dream match” by the fans in advance, was a disappointing match. The Russian team was unable to defend the championship title and lost to the Canadian team with a score of 1:6. But many were struck not by the very fact of the loss, but by the reaction of the Russian team: part of the team left the arena during the award ceremony. Commentators noted that the act of the hockey players was unexpected and inexplicable – after all, the rivals deserved to win. However, you can understand hockey players if you consider their act as a reaction to inflated expectations.
“Why does an athlete who takes second place in the world championship experience a strong sense of humiliation, shame, almost physical pain? psychologist William James mused. He left behind dozens of rivals. His skill level is beyond the reach of most other people. But these achievements are discounted by the fact that he lost to a single opponent. Compared to that, nothing else matters to him.” (one)
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Psychologists Victoria Medvec and Thomas Gilovich from Cornell University (USA), as well as their colleague Scott Madey from the University of Toledo (USA) noticed that it is silver medalists who experience their result the hardest. Their faces in photographs often show negative emotions: embarrassment, shame, regret, and even despair. According to the authors, the “curse of second place” is due to our tendency to counterfactual thinking, that is, to thinking about a world that it is not, but could be (2). Those who think this way compare their actual achievements and failures to an ideal image of “how things should have happened.” “As a rule, this image is based not on the analysis of the situation, but not on abstract dreams and experiences,” explains Scot Mady. “For example, the cost of losing or winning a sporting event increases if it is burdened with extraneous meanings and becomes a reflection of the collective experiences of many people.”
The key motivation of a person who is in the thrall of counterfactual thinking is to avoid the strongest feeling of frustration at all costs.. But that is precisely what makes his position vulnerable. He perceives defeat not simply as a result of mistakes made, insufficient preparation, or a collision with a stronger opponent. His personality is under threat, and this forces him to worry and react more sharply.
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Why counterfactual thinking is dangerous
- Self-deception. One way to reduce the feeling of disappointment due to failure is to present the situation as if it was caused by external causes (the weather was bad, the field was uneven, the players had allergies) or the result of injustice (ours were sued). But in the end, this strategy only hinders a sober analysis.
- Depression. The principle of “all or nothing” often leads to despair and loss of faith in oneself. If we stake too much, we run the risk of being overwhelmed.
- Aggression. Following frustration, another desire may arise – to find the “culprit” of suffering. It is this feeling that fuels the actions of sports fans who arrange fights and pogroms because of the loss of their favorite team.
1. W. James «The Principles of Psychology» (Dover publications, 1950).
2. V. Medvec, S. Madey, T. Gilovich «When less is more: counterfactual thinking and satisfaction among Olympic medalists», Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1995, vol. 69.