There’s a reason for trash-talking—besides the fact that it’s fun. Pissing off your opponent might give you an advantage. In fact, researchers call it the Materazzi Effect, named for the soccer player Marco Materazzi, who goaded Zinedine Zidane into head-butting him and thus kicked out of the 2006 World Cup final. Here’s the thing, though: pissing off a competitor is pretty situational.
In a study published in PNAS, researchers found that the strategic use of anger is best employed in contests of self-control, not contests of strength. In one test, 260 participant were divided into groups of two and competed in a contest of grip strength. One player was given the opportunity to piss off the second player after the first round, and if they did, the second player ended up performing much better in the second round. Clearly, goading an opponent didn’t work out great, given that said opponent ended up performing better.
However, in a second test, players partook in a computerized “duel”. They started twenty “steps” apart, and, during their turn, were given the choice between taking one step forward or shooting. The closer they got, the better their odds of hitting were. Furthermore, they each only got one shot. During this tests, researchers also allowed one player to piss off the second, and the result was that the pissed off player would shoot first 70% of the time—thus missing.
Researchers tried one more experiment, though. If the pissed-off player was given a twenty minute “cooling off” period, this offset the consequences of both tests.
So, when you’re competing in a test of cunning, piss your opponent off. If you’re competing in a test of strength, don’t do that. And if your opponent pisses you off, you can use it against him if you’re using muscles—but if you’re using your brain, take a few minutes and think about Kate Upton.
