“It seems that people have a tendency to stomp down on those they have defeated, to really rub it in,” said Brad Bushman, co-author of the study and professor of communication and psychology at Ohio State University.
“Losers, on the other hand, don’t really act any more aggressively than normal against those who defeated them
There is a comeuppance by way of Radiolab though. Apparently, in baboon societies, when the alpha male in any society loses a challenge to a weaker male, all of the other formerly lower males remember what life was like under the former alpha:
Alpha male baboons fight for years to maintain their social rank, all to get the girl. It’s a stressful existence, to be sure, especially when the day finally comes that they get knocked off their pedestal by some young upstart and fall to the bottom of the ladder. Cruel cruel world. But here’s the silver lining: researchers have discovered that some females, rather then sitting patiently in ringside seats, get bored with all the fighting and mate with you guessed it – the nice guy sitting on the bench.
Now, where did I put that copy of Mario Party 9….
-Jamin Warren
[via ScienceDaily]