People love winning streaks by individuals -- teams, not so much
Personal achievements inspire awe, study finds

Date:
August 31, 2020
Source:
Ohio State University
Summary:
People enjoy witnessing extraordinary individuals - from athletes
to CEOs - extend long runs of dominance in their fields, a new
study suggests.

But they aren't as interested in seeing similar streaks of success
by teams or groups.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== People enjoy witnessing extraordinary individuals -- from athletes to
CEOs - - extend long runs of dominance in their fields, a new study
suggests. But they aren't as interested in seeing similar streaks of
success by teams or groups.


========================================================================== "Everyone wants Usain Bolt to win another gold medal for sprinting. Not
so many people want to see the New England Patriots win another Super
Bowl," said Jesse Walker, lead author of the study.

The reason? "Extraordinary success by individuals inspires awe in people
in a way that team success does not," said Walker, an assistant professor
of marketing at Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business.

"When we see Usain Bolt win three gold medals in a row, it expands what
we thought was the limit of human potential. Team winning streaks don't
change as much what we think humans can achieve," he said.

"People appear to be more moved by individual success than group success
and so they're more interested in seeing individual success continue."
Walker and Thomas Gilovich, professor of psychology at Cornell University,
did nine studies involving 2,625 Americans. Their results appear in the
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.



==========================================================================
In one study, they examined people's views on the success of Usain Bolt,
the Jamaican sprinter who won the 100-meter dash in the last three
Olympics. Bolt was also a member of a team that won the gold medal in
the 4x100-meter relay at those same Olympic games.

Many more people reported they would prefer to see Bolt win the gold
medal in the individual event in the next Olympics than in the relay
event, results showed.

But the preference for seeing individual streaks continue doesn't just
apply to famous athletes in familiar sports. In one study, participants
were told about an obscure Italian sport called Calcio Fiorentino.

Participants who were told about an individual version of the sport --
and read about a fictional superstar who had won the championship six
times in a row - - were more likely to say they wanted him to win a
seventh time, compared to those who read about a team that had won the championship six times in a row.

And it is not just sports superstars that inspire people to want to
cheer on winning streaks.



========================================================================== Studies showed people supported individual runs of dominance over team dominance in the British Quizzing Championship and in the best closure
rates on homicide cases in U.S. police departments.

This preference has implications in the business world, as well.

In one study, participants read about the real electronic components manufacturer AVnet, one of the 350 largest companies in America.

Half the participants were told that a (fictional) CEO of the company
had guided the company for the last couple of decades, making a series
of shrewd and successful decisions that led to AVnet's success. The
other half were told a group of executives had guided the company,
making the same shrewd decisions.

Participants who read that Avnet's success could be attributed to its
CEO thought the company should command a greater share of the market
than did the participants who were told the company's success was tied
to a group of executives.

"This could be one of the reasons why customers connect personally with companies like Apple that are identified with their founders and CEOs,"
Walker said.

"Successful companies like IBM or Samsung that are more faceless have a
harder time connecting with people on such a personal level and inspiring people to root for their continued success." Other studies looked at
why people feel differently about individual versus team winning streaks.

Results showed that people attributed individual streaks of success to
the people themselves, while team success was attributed to situational factors.

"When an individual is on a streak of success, it is a lot easier to
pinpoint who is responsible -- they own their success. With a group or
team, there are so many people involved and so many moving parts that
it is less clear. There could be any number of factors that account for
a group's success," Walker said.

"We found that people view individual streaks as attributable directly
to the talents or efforts of the individuals involved, which inspired
feelings of awe that they presumably enjoy and would like to continue."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Ohio_State_University. Original
written by Jeff Grabmeier. Note: Content may be edited for style and
length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Jesse Walker, Thomas Gilovich. The streaking star effect: Why
people want
superior performance by individuals to continue more than
identical performance by groups.. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 2020; DOI: 10.1037/pspa0000256 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200831094719.htm

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