The eCrozier

Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical. – Yogi Berra

Insightful work is going on in cognitive research on how we respond when we face a loss or a disappointment in life. Dr. Laurie Santos, a Yale psychology professor who teaches a class there called “Psychology and the Good Life,” reports on cognitive biases all humans share and how our brains play tricks on us. On her podcast episode, “A Silver Lining,” she shares study results of Olympic medal winners across decades. These studied the faces of medal winners immediately after their event and as they were receiving their medals at the formal ceremony. The researchers had independent people judge the various facial reactions on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being “agony” and 10 being “ecstasy.” Their consistent findings show that the Bronze Medalist is nearly twice as likely to show ecstasy (Score = 7.6) than the Silver Medalist, most of whom show a look closer to agony (Score = 4.0). And yet, the Silver Medal is a higher medal than the Bronze. Shouldn’t Silver Medalists be happier than Bronze Medalists? After all, they finished one place higher. The psychologists explain this incongruity by pointing toward our human “Reference Points.” The Bronze Medalist’s point of reference is all those below her (4th place and farther) who didn’t achieve a medal. So, she’s happy she finished high enough to earn a medal. The Silver Medalist, however, references only to the place above her, the Gold Medalist, and thus exhibits agony.

Similar research has also been conducted in comparing people’s compensation in jobs. It would be rational for a person to prefer a job making $100,000 more than one making $50,000. And if that’s all there is to it, then that’s clearly people’s preference. When people, however, learn that they’re making $100,000, but others in the same company are making more, then they report less happiness than if they were making $50,000 in another company and everyone else was making less than they were. Their job preference changes based on the reference point they use. If they “reference up,” then they’ll tend to be unhappy. But if they “reference down,” then they’re liable to be happy with their situation.

What this psychological research on reference points exposes is the spiritual malady called envy (one of Seven Deadly Sins). Melanie Klein, author of Envy and Gratitude, writes that envy is a human drive that produces personal desolation because it keeps those who are envious from recognizing their own gifts and talents. Envious people can’t accept who they are and the good they represent because they’re constantly referencing themselves to others who they perceive as having more in some way. This isn’t a small matter. It’s the source of much of the evil meted out in this world. We all suffer from this sin to one extent or another (I know I do!). If it’s something occasional that we can name and laugh at for our pettiness, then it won’t cause desolation. If, however, it dominates how we experience our lives, then it’ll destroy us. Our lived experience, like baseball, is 90% mental (thank you, Yogi!). Until our reference points move away from envying others who we perceive on some level as being better than us, we’ll be unable to reference the blessings we already have and the blessings we are to others.

+Scott