Have you noticed that a bronze medalist is generally happier than a silver medalist at the end of the game?
It’s not an incidental finding but a proven fact in many research studies after studying reactions of silver medalists vs bronze medalists!
Ideally, a silver medalist should be happier than a bronze. But, the human mind doesn’t work like mathematics.
This happens because of the phenomenon of counterfactual thinking.
A concept in psychology in which there is a human tendency to create possible alternatives to life events that have already happened, that would be contrary to what happened.
Sliver medalist thinks, “Oh I couldn’t win the gold medal.” Bronze medalist thinks, “At least I got a medal.”
The silver medal is won after losing, but the Bronze medal is won after Winning.
This happens in our life also, we don’t appreciate what we have but feel sad about what we don’t have. Let’s be grateful for our blessings, they far outweigh our problems if we start counting.
Life is after all full of choices, do always count your blessings to stay positive & motivated…
Counterfactual thinking is a concept in psychology that involves the human tendency to create possible alternatives to life events that have already occurred; something that is contrary to what actually happened. Counterfactual thinking is, as it states: “counter to the facts”.[1] These thoughts consist of the “What if?” and the “If I had only…” that occur when thinking of how things could have turned out differently. Counterfactual thoughts include things that – in the present – now could never happen in reality because they solely pertain to events that have occurred in the past.[1]
