JongHan Kim is now at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, while Sheila M. Hindle is now at Duke University.
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Rooting for (and Then Abandoning) the Underdog
Article first published online: 24 SEP 2008
DOI: 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2008.00403.x
© 2008 Copyright the Authors. Journal compilation © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Additional Information
How to Cite
Kim, J., Allison, S. T., Eylon, D., Goethals, G. R., Markus, M. J., Hindle, S. M. and McGuire, H. A. (2008), Rooting for (and Then Abandoning) the Underdog. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 38: 2550–2573. doi: 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2008.00403.x
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JongHan Kim is now at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, while Sheila M. Hindle is now at Duke University.
Publication History
- Issue published online: 24 SEP 2008
- Article first published online: 24 SEP 2008
- Abstract
- Article
- References
- Cited By
Although people prefer to associate with winners, there is also a strong desire to support the lovable loser or underdog. In 4 studies, we demonstrate the underdog effect and its delimiting conditions. In Studies 1 and 2, participants rooted for the underdog in judgments of athletic, business, and artistic competition. In Study 3, participants watched animated clips of struggling and nonstruggling geometric shapes. The results showed that participants showed more rooting, sympathy, and identification with struggling shapes than with nonstruggling ones. Study 4 identified conditions under which people abandon the underdog, showing that participants rooted for the underdog only when both self-relevance and consequences were high. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.