Why are bronze medalists often happier than silver medalists?
As the Olympics starts in just a few days, I thought I’d write my monthly blog/medium story on a great philosophical question ‘Why are bronze medalists often happier than silver medalists?’.
This is a question I’ve asked many people over the last couple of years when it was first posed to me. This piece of writing is solely why I think bronze medalists are happier than silver medalists.
You would assume that getting gold would mean you’re the happiest, silver the second happiest, and bronze the third happiest, in terms of competitions such as the Olympics where medals are awarded. However, psychologists and researchers observing athlete’s happiness have found this is not the case. In fact, you can even look at pictures of podiums with medalists and find most of the time it’s the silver medalists who look the least happy with their achievement.
Researchers of the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona observed video footage and placed medalists on a scale of 1–10 when they heard the announcement of their medal, as well as later on at the medal ceremony. On average, the silver medalists scored a 4.8, and the bronze medalists scored a 7.1 immediately following the announcement. At the medal ceremony, the silver medalists scored a 4.3 on the happiness scale, while the bronze medalists scored 5.7. Both significant gaps in happiness.
My most obvious thought and observation for this is that the silver medalist might be too focused on winning gold. They would focus on how they just missed out on gold, and how they came so close to coming in first place, and any other outcome. The bronze medalist, however, might focus their thoughts downward towards the fourth place. I would think that they would focus on almost not winning a medal at all. The thought of not winning a medal would most likely not come into play for a silver medalist. In addition, bronze medalists, in my opinion, are just happy to make the podium and make that statement about themselves and have that achievement to their name.
The thing with expectations is that it often motivates us. If you have ever had any major event in your life where you have set expectations, the sheer expectation itself will most likely of motivating you. If you’re an athlete, wanting to win the gold is a good thing because it helps you train harder. There’s the psychological component that comes with it that hard work pays off. Whilst everyone aims for a gold medal, my belief is that silver medalists are likely to have higher expectations on themselves on average than those who place third.
So that’s my belief on why bronze medalists are often happier than silver medalists! Just a short blog for you to ponder upon and think about. Thanks for reading! Enjoy the pictures of medalists below and observe yourself.
