A team of researchers, led by one of my favorite thoughtleaders in the decision making (and why it is counterintuitive)
space, did a study looking at
video and audio for every winner of a medal in the 1992 Olympics. What they found is that bronze medal winners
are happier than silver medal winners.
The reason (a hypothesis in the study, but shown over and
over again in studies across the board) is that it comes down to counterfactual
thinking – otherwise known as “What could have been!”.
When you win a silver, you focus on the fact that you almost
won the gold. Just one place away. Oh how great that would have been! What could I have done differently? Obsess obsess.
But when you win a bronze, looking up doesn’t help. “Oh I could have won a silver!” just isn’t as
obsession-worthy. Instead, the closest
alternative, and therefore the one that attracts your mental focus is that you
almost came in fourth. No medal at
all. That is a huge difference. Nothing to show your friends. Nothing to hold up during a TV commercial
(and therefore tons of $$ in lost endorsement opportunities).
So what does this teach the rest of us who are not competing
in contests where you might explicitly come in second or third place? Every time you are thinking about your
performance on something, your status in something, or whatever, be cognizant of
what you compare yourself too. OK, maybe
the Joneses next door have a nicer house.
Maybe Mary in the office next to yours makes more money. Maybe the guy on the treadmill next to yours
has a better physique. Put that thought
out of your head. Instead, focus on the comparisons
that are in your favor.
And the real truth of the matter is that this is not fooling
yourself at all (although as you know from previous posts I am a big fan of the
Placebo Effect). Out of the 7 billion
people in the world, you are better off than 99% of them in more ways than you
can count. And yet somehow, global
studies of happiness show that some of the bottom 1% are much happier than you
are. Think about that.
