The importance of good loser messages – A de-biasing experiment

Image credit: [Flickr/Heath Brandon/CC-BY-2.0

Abstract

Because of the negative consequences that follow from loss, citizens who dislike the policy decision in question are disposed to believe that the winning camp has acted unfairly. We explore whether a good loser message from an in-group leader – a concession – helps policy losers to make a more balanced assessment of the situation.