1. When Bronze Is Better Than Silver Medvec et al. (1995)Medvec et al. (1995) conducted a study to show how counterfactual thinking may lead to the counterintuitive phenomenon that the bronze medalists in Olympic Games is happier than the silver medalist. They therefore observed athletes during the awards ceremony of the Olympic Summer Games in Barcelona 1992 and analyzed interviews by the athletes. Contributor© POSbase 2008

2. When Bronze Is Better Than Silver They found that bronze medalists smiled more during the award ceremony than silver medalists. In addition, the silver medalists told in interviews what they could have done to win the competition, whereas the bronze medalists pondered the chances that he or she could have missed the bronze medal. © POSbase 2008

3. When Bronze Is Better Than Silver Counterfactual thinking led silver medalists to imagine how they could become gold medalist, whereas the bronze medalists were happy to be third because they imagined how they could have lost their medal. This is why third-ranked athletes were more satisfied with their performance than second- ranked ones who were closer to victory and may feel regret about their mistakes that cost them the gold medal.regret © POSbase 2008