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Anger is just another tactic used by the loser to turn the tables, according to a new study.

A new study published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience suggests that the aggressive “painful loser” is actually a creature of strategy rather than emotion. This sports-based research gives us wisdom on how to keep our cool in highly competitive environments.

“I used to play on an amateur team myself and I noticed that certain players commit ugly, unnecessary offenses when defeat seemed certain,” explains psychologist Macià Buades-Rotger of the University of Barcelona and co-author of the new study. “Intriguingly, some of the people who did this weren’t overly hot-headed off the field.”

Buades-Rotger’s study measured aggression elicited by being outcompeted and found consistent results: low competitive status (i.e. lower rank by losing more often) is linked to higher aggression.

“In short, losers are on average more aggressive than winners,” he clarifies. “And it makes sense — if your rival outperforms you, you’ll have to resort to aggression to try and stop them.”

According to Buades-Rotger, these results are not only theoretically relevant, but can also provide clues as to how best to prevent and treat aggression in sport. These results also break the stereotype of the dirty-playing winner.

“You often hear sports coaches and commentators say that winning teams are aggressive and tough,” he explains. “Our results directly contradict this story.”

He gives the example of the 2021-22 Golden State Warriors who not only won the NBA championship, they did it while being among the least penalized teams in the league.

Buades-Rotger emphasizes that the most common reason for aggression in sports is actually strategic in nature. This means that the losing side’s anger and foul play is meant to make up for their lack of skill.

“In particular, our data suggests that people use aggression as a competitive resource rather than out of spite. This means that individuals do not simply act out of frustration against their opponent,” he explains. “Instead, aggression seems to be a more deliberate strategy to make up for the skill difference.”

In contrast, superior achievers of higher competitive status remain calm and win with the sheer power of skill.

Buades-Rotger also suggests that we can cautiously extrapolate these findings to a general competitive environment such as a cut-throat workplace or even to people who may be dealing with anger management problems.

“The research could be of interest to developmental or sports psychologists who deal with aggressive individuals,” he explains. “For both these people and the average person, our results can offer one simple piece of advice: If you lose, watch yourself, stay calm and play fair.”

A full interview with psychologist Macià Buades-Rotger discussing his research can be found here: This is one reason why many people tend to be bad losers

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