Silver Medal Syndrome- when is a winner also a loser?

“I have a problem with that silver medal. It’s like, ‘Congratulation s, you almost won. Of all the losers, you’re the number one loser. No one lost ahead of you.” Jerry Seinfeld

Silver Medal Syndrome season is upon us again, and it always points to a fascinating part of human psychology that prevents us from being happy. This is the demonstrated phenomenon of the Olympics that silver medal winners are generally less happy than bronze medal winners, even though 2nd place is demonstrably better than 3rd place.

There have been scientific studies on this weird syndrome after so many people have noticed the joy on the faces of gold and bronze medal winners, and the visibly disappointed facial expressions of the silver medal winners. The idea took hold especially during the 2012 Olympic gymnastics competition, when silver medal winner McKayla Moroney (pictured above) focused just a bit too long on the fall that cost her the gold medal. This face made her famous and the butt of jokes ever since.

Finishing in second place is demonstrably better than finishing in 3rd, 4th, 5th, or lower places, but for some odd reason it has a stigma attached to it. How can that be?

Behavioral psychologists pin the blame on our tendency to think about what might have been had everything worked out the…