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The Psychology of Sore Losers
No one likes them, but how do they become this way?
We’ve all come across sore losers in our life and we all know they’re no fun to be around when they lose at a game, competition, sport, or don’t do as well on something as they wanted to.
These are the people who throw a temper tantrum when they lose a video game, claim a board game “wasn’t fair” just because they lost, or argue with the ref when their team loses in a sport.
It’s easy to roll our eyes or get secondhand embarrassment when we witness these behaviors in fully grown adults, but rarely does anyone ask the important question: How does a sore loser become a sore loser?
They Have Low Self Esteem
A person who has low self-esteem will seek out external sources to boost their self-esteem. Some people seek this through attention from the opposite sex, while others look for some type of validation that they are “good” or “valuable”.
This can manifest as a strong desire to win, to prove that they are those things both to themselves and others. When they don’t win, they will get angry and frustrated because now they haven’t been able to validate their self-worth through winning.
