Imagine a football game where the underdog teams from small schools play against the powerhouse behemoths, and the underdogs win a startling amount of the time.

The broader question raised by all of this is why do we enjoy these surprises in the first place. Why is it so difficult for us not to support the underdog? Researchers have discovered that our affinity for the underdog is really real. Numerous psychologists have examined the subject of our affinity for the underdog and discovered that it is widespread.

Based only on who is up and who is done, this tendency can force people to flip their allegiances between teams during a single series. One study found that 88.1 percent of participants who read descriptions of two hypothetical basketball teams playing each other in a seven-game series supported the underdog squad. However, when it was revealed that the favorite had surprisingly dropped the first three games of the series, putting them in danger of being eliminated and turning them into the new underdog, roughly half of these spectators switched sides. 88.1 percent of participants in one study voted for the underdog.

Actual basketball games have been seen by spectators, who have likewise noted this impact. In a another study, American college students watched a match between two European teams while being informed that one of the teams had won the previous 15 meetings between them. Again, no matter which team it was, they consistently supported the underdog to pull off an upset.

Outside of sports, this phenomenon of rooting for the underdogs has also been studied. There are some theories why we prefer to support the underdogs.

Theory 1: Because of schadenfreude, we support underdogs
One hypothesis is that our passion for the underdog is essentially an expression of schadenfreude—pleasure we feel as a result of other people's suffering—which was advanced by UC San Diego researcher Nadav Goldschmied. According to the theory, we want dominant teams that triumph year after year to fail.

It makes sense, yet the data is contradictory. When participants in Goldschmied's experiments were informed that an underdog team's victory would eliminate the favorite from the playoffs, they actually showed significantly less support for the underdog. This shows that instead of truly hoping for bad luck, the participants were actually hoping for an unexpected victory.

However, in a another experiment, Goldschmied told participants that the favorite team spent far more on payroll. This significantly increased support for the underdog compared to the situation where the teams spent equally. This lends credence to the notion of schadenfreude and may explain why so many people like detesting the great loser: there is something satisfying about seeing a team that has invested a lot of money lose.

Theory 2: We desire a just society
Another way to understand this outcome is that we all secretly desire a just world. We want everyone to have an equal chance at success, and when upsets occur, it demonstrates that they do. Some teams, whether professional or collegiate, can invest more money into winning.

Another study conducted by Goldschmied and Joseph Vandello of the University of South Florida provides strong support for this hypothesis. It also included a fictitious game between two teams, one with a high likelihood of success and the other with a low likelihood. But in this instance, the participants were sometimes told by the researchers that the later team had spent a lot more money.

People stopped referring to them as "underdogs" and stopped hoping they would succeed after that. It seems that something about the identity of the underdog has to do with "deserving" to triumph against the odds. There is a belief that if you have more money but still have a slim chance of winning, it is your fault.

Theory 3: We don't want to have high expectations
Psychologists have found time and time again that people experience greater happiness from unexpected triumphs than from expected ones, and greater sorrow from unexpected failures than expected ones. According to some academics, this might be a compelling argument for supporting the underdog: you stand to win significantly more if your team pulls off an upset than you do if it loses.

However, since this theory hasn't been specifically investigated in relation to supporting underdogs, it's difficult to say whether it actually holds true. This kind of thinking is a very planned, rational way to approach a game, yet many people's love of the upset is passionate and out of control.

The extent to which we can support the underdog varies. When there isn't much on the line, it's simple to support the underdog and the upset, but when there is, support dwindles, according to academics.

This finding was made by Scott Allison of the University of Richmond in a study on the public's support for various underdogs, whether in business, sports, or the arts. Participants in one section of the study read about a situation in which two businesses were vying for a contract to test the water in Boise, Idaho.

The first was a young, little, struggling business, and the second was a well-established, decades-old one. When questioned, a little bit more than half of the participants answered they would support the small company winning the contract. However, the findings were the opposite when the situation was altered so that participants were informed the firms would be testing water for suspected cancer-causing substances in their own hometowns: more than twice as many backed the well-known, dependable company to win the bid.

Allison comes to the conclusion that when there is a greater stake in the game—in this case, our health—our sympathy for the underdog vanishes. Similar to this, he adds, we may support a mom-and-pop store when a Walmart opens up in the area, but eventually we buy major items wherever they are less expensive.

In sports, this is demonstrated by the fact that most of us support upsets, provided that they don't harm our own side. In the end, our team's success is what matters most; upsets are thrilling, side interests. Although supporting the underdog is widespread, the effect is "a mile broad and an inch deep," as Allison puts it.

Coming to religious and spiritual life, our support for the underdogs or downtrodden simply draws from God’s own special love for the poor. It is our basic Christian experience that God is for all, but he is closer to the suffering and the marginalised. As Mary sings, “He puts down the mighty from their thrones, and exalts the lowly” (Luke 1:52).

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