The appeal of the underdog: Definition of the construct and

144 Pages·2015·1.51 MB·English

by  Nadav Goldschmied

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USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations USF Graduate Theses and Dissertations
2007
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Nadav Goldschmied
University of South Florida
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self" (2007). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
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TheAppeal oftheUnderdog:
DefinitionoftheConstruct and Implications fortheSelf
by
NadavGoldschmied
Adissertationsubmittedinpartial fulfillment
oftherequirements forthedegreeof
DoctorofPhilosophy
Department ofPsychology
Collegeof Arts andSciences
UniversityofSouthFlorida
MajorProfessor: JosephA.Vandello, Ph.D.
JamieGoldenberg, Ph.D.
JonathanRottenberg,Ph.D.
KristenSalomon,Ph.D.
KevinThompson,Ph.D.
DateofApproval:
June21,2007
Keywords: loomingsuccess,disadvantage,schadenfreude
©Copyright 2007,NadavGoldschmied
TableofContents
List ofTables iv
List of Figures v
Abstract vi
Introduction 1
TheAppeal oftheUnderdog 1
Past ResearchonUnderdogs 4
The LoomingSuccess Component 7
Justice-BasedMotivations forSupportingUnderdogs 9
Utilitarian-BasedMotivations 12
Underdogandthe Implications fortheSelf 15
OverviewofthePresent Studies and SpecificPredictions 16
Study1: TheSemantic Networkofthe Underdog 19
Method 24
Participants 24
Procedure 24
AnalyticStrategy 26
Results 27
Discussion 29
Study2: The LoomingSuccess ofthe Underdog– Direct Investigation 32
Method 35
i
Participants 35
Procedure 36
Results 37
LoomingSuccess 37
Support 39
Labeling 39
Discussion 40
Study3: The LoomingSuccess ofthe Underdog– ARecognitionTask 42
Method 45
Participants 45
Procedure 45
Results 48
Discussion 51
Study4A: TheJusticeframework: Schadenfreude orUnderdogSupport:
AMemoryTest toDetect Attentional Focus 54
Method 60
Participants 60
Procedure 60
Results 62
Support 62
Memory 64
Discussion 67
Study4B: Implications fortheSelf: TheEffects ofUnderdogSuccess fortheSelf 70
ii
Method 72
Participants 72
Procedure 72
Results 73
Discussion 75
General Discussion 78
References 84
Appendices 93
Appendix A: Study1Materials 94
Appendix B: Study2Materials 97
Appendix C: Study3Materials 108
Appendix D: Study4Materials 120
About theAuthor End Page
iii
List ofTables
Table1 Meanscores andnormalityindicators oftheReactionTime
Variable,priortoandfollowingLogtransformation 53
iv
List of Figures
Figure1. Cognitivemap(freediscreteassociates)ofthewordplanet. 27
Figure2. Cognitivemap(freediscreteassociates)ofthewordunderdog. 32
Figure3. Projectedsuccess as a functionoflabelinganddomain. 40
Figure4. Meanreactiontimes (after Logtransformations)inresponsetothe
Underdogitem,across 3 conditions. 50
Figure5. Confidenceratings infor Underdogitem recognition,across
conditions. 50
v
TheAppeal oftheUnderdog: DefinitionoftheConstruct and Implications fortheSelf
NadavGoldschmied
ABSTRACT
From politics tosports tobusiness,peoplearequicktocategorizethose at a
considerable competitivedisadvantageas “underdogs.” Moreover,thereis amplesupport
that most unattachedobservers donot hesitatetoalignthemselves withunderdogs,a
phenomenontermed “the underdogeffect.” Whilemost dictionarydefinitions statethat
underdogs are“especiallyexpectedtolose,”thepresent investigationargues that people
oftenattributeoptimisticqualities tounderdogs andtheexceedingofexpectations. A
series ofstudies was conducted toexaminethelay-persondefinitionofwhat anunderdog
means,as well as what motivations mayplaya roleintheunderdogeffect. Study1
investigatedpeople’s spontaneous definitions ofunderdogs byexploringthesemantic
networkoftheunderdogconstruct throughtheuse ofthediscrete associations method.
Study2 exploredthehypothesizedloomingsuccess component ofbeingan underdogby
askingparticipants toevaluatefuturesuccess ofunderdogs vs.disadvantagedentities.
Study3utilizedthefalse recognitionparadigm to exploreschematicmemoryofsuccess
associatedwiththeunderdogconstruct, whilethelast studyassessedwhetherpeopledo
trulysupport thoseat acompetitivedisadvantage ormerelyroot against thefavorite, as
well as exploredthepossibleroleoftheselfinthe underdogeffect. Support forthe
loomingsuccess oftheunderdogwas foundinthe first twostudies whilethelast study
demonstratedthat strongself-identification withtheunderdogwas highlycorrelated with
vi
support forit. Overall,theresults ofthecurrent studysuggest that peopleinAmerican
societybelievethat underdogs areuniqueexemplars whichareexpectedto do
significantlybetterthantheinitial expectations.
vii
Introduction
TheAppeal of theUnderdog
Historyis filledwithenduringstories ofrivalries between entities withnoticeable
disparities ofpowerorprestige, rangingfrom the paragonbiblical storyof Davidand
Goliath,throughmythological TroyfacingthealmightyGreeks,tomodern day
geopolitical examples pittingtheUSAas thelone superpoweragainst much less powerful
rivals. Sometimes thelopsidedstruggleinvolves groups (for example,theUSAhockey
team versus themightyRussians inthe“miracleonice”),while at othertimes therivalry
is betweenindividuals (forexample,Trumanversus Dewey’s famous comefrom behind
victoryofthepresidencyin1948).
Whensuchdisparities ofpoweror expectations forsuccess exist,onesideis often
labeledas an “underdog” (whileits opposingpartyis termedafavorite,frontrunner,or
topdog). Underdogs are present throughout manyhumanendeavors,rangingfrom
territorial disputes betweentribes orstates,tosuchdomains as politics,sports,orthe
business worldinwhichcompetitionis hailedas thesourceofeconomicgrowth.
Underdogs areoftendepictedas heroes,such as RockyBalboainthemovie“Rocky”ora
horsenamedSeabiscuit whowontheKentuckyDerbydespiteinsurmountableodds.
Theterm underdogfirst surfacedinthe19th century. The wordoriginated from
dogfighting,acommon practiceinthosedays,inwhichthelosingdogwas declaredthe
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