AUTHOR=Yang Qing , Zhao Yangqing 

TITLE=Risk-taking, loss aversion, and performance feedback in dynamic and heterogeneous tournaments

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1223369

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1223369

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=In the context of professional football, we sought to examine the impact of interim game state on risk taking and performance during a dynamic tournament. In this study, 9,256 segments from the top 5 European football leagues were taken as samples. These segments were derived from 1,826 games played during the 2017-18 season. Poisson regression was employed to analyze the distinct effects of the game state and heterogeneity on performance under pressure. The results indicate that stronger teams tend to increase their attack intensities when facing weaker opponents. However, as their lead expands, these teams tend to reduce their attack intensities, particularly in matches with heterogeneous characteristics. It was observed that teams trailing in score tend to intensify their attacks, but achieve little. On the other hand, leading teams consistently underperform in terms of blocked shots and corner kicks. Additionally, tied teams systematically exhibit lower performance in shots on target and free kicks compared to the leading team, despite having higher motivations to excel. These findings extend our understanding of how risk taking and performance depend on how information on relative performance is revealed.