The world cup has finally ended. GERMANY triumphed over second place Argentina by a score of 1-0 courtesy of Mario Gotze goal in extra time.
What I would like to point out here is the psychological consciousness of the 2nd and 3rd place.
As we all know, Bronze medal winners would need to lose first then win. On the other hand, Silver medal winners would need to win first then lose. So what is the difference between the two? Why would silver medal winners be more upset than bronze medal winners? A good example would be the Dutch and Argentina players when they clinched 3rd and 2nd place respectively. The Dutch are looking so happy clinching their 3rd place while Argentina players are looking like dead zombies on the street.
Based on a research, it appears that this behavioral aspect is due to the psychological comparison for silver medal losers to compare themselves against gold medal winners. Silver medal losers torment themselves with counterfactual thoughts such as "If only... that a** Higuain scores in the first half".
On the other hand, bronze medal winners subconsciously compare themselves against 4th place losers who did not receive a medal at all.
Does this mean that we should eliminate 3rd/4th place playoff? Maybe the way Tennis and NBA ranking can be applied to soccer and other sports.
Personally for me, I have encountered such scenario myself and the feeling in entirely true if you are a loser in the final.
What about you? Do you think 3rd/4th place playoff is meaningless? Should the silver medal deserves better?
