Seduction of the Underdog

Tactics, Innovation & Evolution

The phenomenon to switch our allegiances for a singular contest just based on who's up and who's done is quite pervasive. Multiple researches have documented our love for the underdog, and are quite interesting from psychological point of view.

So why do we favour these upsets in the first place ? is it schadenfreude - the pleasure derived from the expectant's misfortune ? is it our want for the world to be just ? or is it because we don't want to get our hopes high ?

Or, is it for our primal quest of improvement and evolution that guides our interest in favour of the underdogs. As we know it is the 'Unexpected' or the underdog who is more likely to increase the games dimensionality in their quest for winning. The question could be why ?

Given the 'Expected' have a higher hand with dominant resources (skill linked to better training, infrastructure or purchasing power). It is vital for the underdog to open multiple dimensions or fronts in the competition that are innovative (like trick shots or new game plays). Once you open multiple fronts or increase the dimensionality the advantage of having more resources decreases. Like for my product's lower quality, I may try and add color or packaging, or simply better marketing in order to compete when people do the comparison. So that I stand a chance and possibly beat my competitor.

You always find the weaker opponents are adding new dimensions. Or sort of attacking in place that weren't expected beforehand. Because if you got very few fronts, the stronger player has a big advantage. If you got lots of fronts, the stronger player has less of an advantage. Further reading Game Theory, Colonel Blotto Model for Game Strategy.