It's hard to define the sore-loser mentality clearly.
Or even the over-the-top winner mentality.
But it is the reaction to a loss, particularly in professional sports, that can create an unflattering trend.
Brent Walker, past-president of the Association for Applied Sports Psychology and associate athletic director for championship performance at Columbia University, said that although the reactions are fundamentally different across the sports landscape, the reality is that dealing with losing is about how somebody's identity is impacted.
"There's plenty of interesting research out there that gives you an idea of what's going on in someone's mind after a loss," Walker said. "And on the fan side, there's an interesting phenomena that shows you how a fan identifies with a team.
"If the team is winning, many fans tend to use pronouns such as 'we' or 'I,' in describing the team. If the losses start to mount, or the team runs on hard times, the pronouns change to 'they' or 'them' pretty quick. They begin to easily separate from it."
Another NFL season will be starting soon followed by the NBA's and NHL's. The players and fans of these major pro sports are passionate.
Very passionate. And some don't take losing well.
"The competitive athlete thrives in the battle of dominance that comes with competition. While dealing with defeat is a part of the game, a loss to the competitive athlete is more than the score at the end of the game. It is the mindset of that athlete that determines how he or she will deal with defeat," said Dr. Yolanda Bruce Brooks, founder and principal of Sports Life Transitions.
"Professional athletes understand what professional means and most are prepared to deal with the responsibilities that come with being among the elite few of your sport," she said. "They also understand professional sports is big business and they get paid to work or lose their jobs.
"No athlete is indispensable or irreplaceable," Books said.
