Not surprisingly, the analysis found that gold medalists are far more likely to smile than the other two medalists, and people who finished better than expected were also more likely to smile, regardless of their medal.
Luangrath says one theory for this behavior suggests that silver medalists compare their finish to the gold medalists and are disappointed to be oh-so-close, but yet so far. Bronze medalists, on the other hand, compare their result to the fourth-place finisher and are just glad to be on the podium. The other theory is that silver medalists are disappointed in their result because they felt they should have performed better. Luangrath says her study supports both theories, so the response depends on the circumstance of each individual on the medal stand.
It was published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology. Second place is only one step away from the cherished gold medal and all of its attendant social and financial rewards. Thus, whatever joy the silver medallist may feel is often tempered by tortuous thoughts of what might have been had she only lengthened her stride, adjusted her breathing, pointed her toes, and so on.
For the bronze medallist, in contrast, the most compelling counterfactual alternative is often coming in fourth place and being in the showers instead of on the medal stand. Such counterfactual thinking also has a functional value as those who ruin their happiness by thinking about the missed opportunity often strive to improve their future performances. Three other researchers who repeated the experiment in the Summer Olympic Game, confirmed that counterfactual thoughts were higher among the silver medallists than the bronze winners.
They, however, found that the differences in the expressed emotion were trivial or negligible. Click here to join our channel indianexpress and stay updated with the latest headlines. In particular, both gold and bronze winners were more likely to display duchenne smiles , which scientists have described as particularly associated with positive emotions.
Taken together, the researchers concluded that "those who showed signs of genuinely enjoyable emotions at the end of the match were more likely to show those same signs of enjoyable emotions when they received the medal and posed on the podium.
Conversely, those who did not display signs of enjoyable emotions at the end of the match were likely to not display such signs during the medal ceremonies, despite the fact that most athletes smiled. When less is more: counterfactual thinking and satisfaction among Olympic medalists. Journal of personality and social psychology, 69 4 , PMID: The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat: spontaneous expressions of medal winners of the Athens Olympic Games.
Journal of personality and social psychology, 91 3 , PMID: Note: This revised and expanded post is based upon an earlier one that was originally posted at LAist on February 16, The views expressed are those of the author s and are not necessarily those of Scientific American. Jason G. Goldman is a science journalist based in Los Angeles. He has written about animal behavior, wildlife biology, conservation, and ecology for Scientific American , Los Angeles magazine, the Washington Post , the Guardian , the BBC, Conservation magazine, and elsewhere.
He enjoys sharing his wildlife knowledge on television and on the radio, and often speaks to the public about wildlife and science communication. Follow Jason G. Goldman on Twitter. Already a subscriber?
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