Winner-loser Effect Research Articles

Does losing reduce the tendency to engage with rivals to reach mates? An experimental test.

Male-male contests for access to females or breeding resources are critical in determining male reproductive success. Larger males and those with more effective weaponry are more likely to win fights. However, even after controlling for such predictors of fighting ability, studies have reported a winner-loser effect: previous winners are more likely to win subsequent contests, while losers often suffer repeated defeats. While the effect of winning-losing is well-documented for the outcome of future fights, its effect on other behaviors (e.g. mating) remains poorly investigated. Here, we test whether a winning versus losing experience influenced subsequent behaviors of male mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) toward rivals and potential mates. We housed focal males with either a smaller or larger opponent for 24 h to manipulate their fighting experience to become winners or losers, respectively. The focal males then underwent tests that required them to enter and swim through a narrow corridor to reach females, bypassing a cylinder that contained either a larger rival male (competitive scenario), a juvenile or was empty (non-competitive scenarios). The tests were repeated after 1 wk. Winners were more likely to leave the start area and to reach the females, but only when a larger rival was presented, indicating higher levels of risk-taking behavior in aggressive interactions. This winner-loser effect persisted for at least 1 wk. We suggest that male mosquitofish adjust their assessment of their own and/or their rival's fighting ability following contests in ways whose detection by researchers depends on the social context.

When are females dominant over males in rats (Rattus norvegicus)?

In group-living animals, males are assumed to be dominant over females when they are larger than females. Despite this, females have sometimes been proven to be dominant over some males via the winner-loser effect, which becomes stronger when the intensity of aggression in the group is higher. To test whether the winner-loser effect leads to (partial) female dominance in a species with a pronounced sexual dimorphism, we studied the hierarchy in 12 rat colonies (Rattus norvegicus) in which the rats could freely interact with their group members within a spacious area. To investigate the underlying mechanisms, we compared the empirical data to hypotheses generated by the agent-based model ‘DomWorld’. We show that females dominated on average 55% of the males, and occupied the alpha position in four colonies, in three of them they shared it with one or several males. Moreover, in line with the predictions of the computational model, females dominated a higher percentage of males when the intensity of aggression of the colony was higher. This shows that although females are only half as heavy as males, they dominate part of the males probably through the winner-loser effect. We suggest that this effect may be widespread in many other species and can be tested experimentally.Significance statementIt is often assumed that males automatically dominate females because males are bigger and stronger than females in many species. However, the present study shows that females can dominate males due to the winner-loser effect. We used an agent-based computational model to generate specific hypotheses that we empirically tested in a large sample of rat colonies. Despite this species having a pronounced male-biased sex dimorphism, some females dominated males – with one female even occupying an unshared alpha position. Such partial female dominance was stronger in colonies with higher intensity of aggression. Here, defeated males may suffer a drastic decrease in their fighting capability and consequently give females more opportunities to surpass them in the hierarchy.

Networks in Auxology – proceedings of the 31st Aschauer Soiree, held at Aschau, Germany, June 17th 2023

Twenty-seven scientists met for the annual Auxological conference held at Aschau, Germany, to particularly discuss the interaction between social factors and human growth, and to highlight several topics of general interest to the regulation of human growth. Humans are social mammals. Humans show and share personal interests and needs, and are able to strategically adjust size according to social position, with love and hope being prime factors in the regulation of growth. In contrast to Western societies, where body size has been shown to be an important predictor of socioeconomic status, egalitarian societies without formalized hierarchy and material wealth-dependent social status do not appear to similarly integrate body size and social network. Social network structures can be modeled by Monte Carlo simulation. Modeling dominance hierarchies suggests that winner-loser effects play a pivotal role in robust self-organization that transcends the specifics of the individual. Further improvements of the St. Nicolas House analysis using re-sampling/bootstrap techniques yielded encouraging results for exploring dense networks of interacting variables. Customized pediatric growth references, and approaches towards a Digital Rare Disease Growth Chart Library were presented. First attempts with a mobile phone application were presented to investigate the associations between maternal pre-pregnancy overweight, gestational weight gain, and the child’s future motor development. Clinical contributions included growth patterns of individuals with Silver-Russell syndrome, and treatment burden in children with growth hormone deficiency. Contributions on sports highlighted the fallacy inherent in disregarding the biological maturation status when interpreting physical performance outcomes. The meeting explored the complex influence of nutrition and lifestyle on menarcheal age of Lithuanian girls and emphasized regional trends in height of Austrian recruits. Examples of the psychosocial stress caused by the forced migration of modern Kyrgyz children and Polish children after World War II were presented, as well as the effects of nutritional stress during and after World War I. The session concluded with a discussion of recent trends in gun violence affecting children and adolescents in the United States, and aspects of life history theory using the example of "Borderline Personality Disorder." The features of this disorder are consistent with the notion that it reflects a "fast" life history strategy, with higher levels of allostatic load, higher levels of aggression, and greater exposure to both childhood adversity and chronic stress. The results were discussed in light of evolutionary guided research. In all contributions presented here, written informed consent was obtained from all participants in accordance with institutional Human investigation committee guidelines in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki amended October 2013, after information about the procedures used.

Investigation of winner-loser portfolio anomalies and size effect anomalies in LQ45 index, Indonesia stock exchange

This study investigates the anomalies of winner-loser portfolios and anomalies of size effect on LQ45 stocks in the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), period 2015-2020. The paired sample t-test (parametric) and Wilcoxon test (non-parametric) are used to test samples. Sample selection is carried out using the non-probability and purposive sampling methods. The shares of companies that met the sample criteria were 26. The primary data used cumulative abnormal returns and market capitalization as proxies for a company's stock size. The anomaly of the winner-loser effect phenomenon is observed by dividing the data into two periods: the formation period and the testing period. The periods are both short-term and long-term. The short-term period is six months, and the long-term is 12 months. The first finding shows reversals in average cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) on the winner-loser stock portfolio. In the testing period, the average CARs were turned down, and many average CARs became negative. Portfolio loser in the testing period, the average CARs reversed to positive. The second is a reversal in average CARs in winner-loser stock portfolios caused by the size effect. The performance of small winner-loser portfolios is proven to outperform big winners' portfolios. The reversal occurs in both the short-term and long-term. This finding suggests that behavioral finance can explain this market anomaly, and it is helpful for investors in coming up with strategies to get abnormal returns.

Winner-loser effects improve social network efficiency between competitors with equal resource holding power

Animal societies are structured of dominance hierarchy (DH). DH can be viewed as networks and analyzed by graph theory. We study the impact of state-dependent feedback (winner-loser effect) on the emergence of local dominance structures after pairwise contests between initially equal-ranking members (equal resource-holding-power, RHP) of small and large social groups. We simulated pairwise agonistic contests between individuals with and without a priori higher RHP by Monte-Carlo-method. Random pairwise contests between equal-ranking competitors result in random dominance structures (‘Null variant’) that are low in transitive triads and high in pass along triads; whereas state-dependent feedback (‘Winner-loser variant’) yields centralized ‘star’ structured DH that evolve from competitors with initially equal RHP and correspond to hierarchies that evolve from keystone individuals. Monte-Carlo simulated DH following state-dependent feedback show motif patterns very similar to those of a variety of natural DH, suggesting that state-dependent feedback plays a pivotal role in robust self-organizing phenomena that transcend the specifics of the individual. Self-organization based on state-dependent feedback leads to social structures that correspond to those resulting from pre-existing keystone individuals. As the efficiency of centralized social networks benefits both, the individual and the group, centralization of social networks appears to be an important evolutionary goal.

Nicotine reduces social dominance and neutralizes experience-dependent effects during social conflicts in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Nicotine, a psychoactive pollutant, binds to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and disrupts the cholinergic modulation and reward systems of the brain, leading to attention deficit, memory loss, and addiction. However, whether nicotine affects social behaviors remains unknown. We assessed the effects of nicotine on the fighting behavior of zebrafish. Adult zebrafish treated with 5 μM nicotine were used in dyadic fighting tests with size-matched control siblings. The results indicate that nicotine treatment not only significantly reduced the likelihood of winning but also impaired the winner–loser effects (winner and loser fish did not show higher winning and losing tendencies in the second fight, respectively, after treatment.) Nicotine led to a considerable increase in c-fos-positive signals in the interpeduncular nucleus (IPN) of the brain, indicating that nicotine induces neural activity in the habenula (Hb)–IPN circuit. We used transgenic fish in which the Hb–IPN circuit was silenced to verify whether nicotine impaired the winner–loser effect through the Hb–IPN pathway. Nicotine-treated fish in which the medial part of the dorsal Hb was silenced did not have a higher winning rate, and nicotine-treated fish in which the lateral part of the dorsal Hb was silenced did not have a higher loss rate. This finding suggests that nicotine impairs the winner–loser effect by modulating the Hb–IPN circuit. Therefore, in these zebrafish, nicotine exposure impaired social dominance and neutralized experience-dependent effects in social conflicts, and it may thereby disturb the social hierarchy and population stability of such fish.

Age-dependent winner-loser effects in a mangrove rivulus fish, Kryptolebias marmoratus.

The outcomes of recent fights can provide individuals information about their relative fighting ability and affect their contest decisions (winner-loser effects). Most studies investigate the presence/absence of the effects in populations/species, but here we examine how they vary between individuals of a species in response to age-dependent growth rate. Many animals' fighting ability is highly dependent on body size, so rapid growth makes information from previous fights unreliable. Furthermore, fast-growing individuals are often at earlier developmental stages and are relatively smaller and weaker than most other individuals but are growing larger and stronger quickly. We therefore predicted winner-loser effects to be less detectable in individuals with high than low growth rates and to decay more quickly. Fast-growing individuals should also display stronger winner than loser effects, because a victory when small indicates a strength which will grow, whereas a loss might soon become irrelevant. We tested these predictions using naïve individuals of a mangrove killifish, Kryptolebias marmoratus, in different growth stages. Measures of contest intensity revealed winner/loser effects only for slow-growth individuals. Both fast- and slow-growth fish with a winning experience won more of the subsequent non-escalated contests than those with a losing experience; in fast-growth individuals this effect disappeared in 3days, but in slow-growth fish it did not. Fast-growth individuals also displayed winner effects but not loser effects. The fish therefore responded to their contest experiences in a way which reflected value of the information from these experiences to them, consistent with our predictions.

Effects of a past contest on the future winning probability in a hyper‐aggressive fruit fly

AbstractIn various animal taxa, prior experience of contests influences the consequences of subsequent contests. A well‐known example is the winner and loser effects, in which winners have a higher winning probability, whereas losers become more likely to lose in the subsequent contests. Previous studies have suggested that the intensity of past contests also affects the future winning probability in two ways: modulating the extent of the winner–loser effect or decreasing the winning probability of both winners and losers. However, the number of studies that investigated the effect of both the contest outcome and intensity has been limited. Here, we analyzed the effect of past fighting experience in a hyper‐aggressive fruit fly Drosophila prolongata to ask (1) whether the winner–loser effect exists in this species and (2) how the contest intensity influences the subsequent winning probability. To disentangle the multiple factors affecting the winning probability, we employed the experimental design involving both body size manipulation and the comparison of different intervals between the two contests. The results did not support the existence of the winner–loser effect: both winners and losers of the first contest showed decreased winning probability in the second contest. With a short interval (2 h), contest intensity negatively influenced the winning probability in winners, though the significance level of its effect was marginally above the statistical threshold. In contrast, contest intensity had no effect in losers. Notably, contest intensity positively correlated with the winning probability after the longer interval (1 d) in both winners and losers, suggesting that it reflects the intrinsic fighting potential of individuals. The possible mechanisms underlying the observed results were discussed. Our study illustrates the transient influence of past contests other than the winner–loser effect.

Dynamic changes to signal allocation rules in response to variable social environments in house mice

Urine marking is central to mouse social behavior. Males use depletable and costly urine marks in intrasexual competition and mate attraction. We investigate how males alter signaling decisions across variable social landscapes using thermal imaging to capture spatiotemporal marking data. Thermal recording reveals fine-scale adjustments in urinary motor patterns in response to competition and social odors. Males demonstrate striking winner-loser effects in scent mark allocation effort and timing. Competitive experience primes temporal features of marking and modulates responses to scent familiarity. Males adjust signaling effort, mark latency, and marking rhythm, depending on the scent identities in the environment. Notably, recent contest outcome affects how males respond to familiar and unfamiliar urine. Winners increase marking effort toward unfamiliar relative to familiar male scents, whereas losers reduce marking effort to unfamiliar but increase to familiar rival scents. All males adjust their scent mark timing after a contest regardless of fight outcome, and deposit marks in more rapid bursts during marking bouts. In contrast to this dynamism, initial signal investment predicts aspects of scent marking days later, revealing the possibility of alternative marking strategies among competitive males. These data show that mice flexibly update their signaling decisions in response to changing social landscapes.

Half a century of evolutionary games: a synthesis of theory, application and future directions.

Half a century of evolutionary games: a synthesis of theory, application and future directions.

The Effect of Brief or Prolonged Bouts of Winning or Losing Male-Male Contests on Plasticity in Sexually Selected Traits.

AbstractFight outcomes often affect male fitness by determining their access to mates. Thus, "winner-loser" effects, where winners often win their next contest while losers tend to lose, can influence how males allocate resources toward pre- and postcopulatory traits. We experimentally manipulated the winning/losing experiences of pairs of size-matched male Gambusia holbrooki for 1 day, 1 week, or 3 weeks to test whether prior winning/losing experiences differentially affect the plasticity of male investment into either mating effort (precopulatory) or ejaculates (postcopulatory). When winner/loser pairs directly competed for a female, winners had better precopulatory outcomes than losers for three of the four traits we measured: mating attempts, successful attempts, and time spent with the female (but not aggression). However, winners and losers did not differ in either total sperm counts or sperm velocity. Interestingly, absolute male size, an important predictor of fighting success, mediated winner-loser effects on how long males then spent near a female. Compared with losers, smaller winners spent more time with the female than did larger winners, suggesting that how males respond to prior social experiences is size dependent. We discuss the general importance of controlling for inherent male condition when comparing male investment into condition-dependent traits.

Adult sex ratios and partial dominance of females over males in the rock hyrax

Competition in group-living animals often results in a dominance hierarchy. The sex that is larger (usually the males) generally dominates the one that is smaller (the females). In certain species, however, despite being smaller, the females dominate several males. Female dominance over males may here arise from the self-reinforcing effects of winning and losing fights, the so-called winner-loser effect, as demonstrated in the model DomWorld. In the model, females may become dominant over more males when the percentage of males in the group is higher due to the higher intensity of aggression of males than females combined with the higher frequency of male–male fights. This association between female dominance and the percentage of adult males in the group has been confirmed in several primate species. Since in the model DomWorld this association requires few assumptions, it should be tested beyond primates. In the present study, we investigated it in the group-living rock hyrax (Procavia capensis), because it fulfilled most requirements. We used data on adults from six groups, collected over 20 years in natural colonies in Israel. We confirmed that body weight and intensity of aggression was greater in males than females. Three measurements indicated that females dominated ca. 70% of the males. Unexpectedly, only in the data where groups comprised several males, female dominance over males was shown to increase with male percentage, but not when including (the many) years in which groups comprised a single male. We attribute this non significance to the limited male–male interactions. One of the requirements of DomWorld is that individuals live in permanent groups, but in rock hyrax there were also bachelor males, that were not permanently associated with a group. Thus, we expected and confirmed that there was no association between the percentage of males and female dominance over males when including them. In conclusion, our results support the hypothesis that the winner-loser effect contributes to the dominance of females over males, and the association between the percentage of males in a group and female dominance over males requires an extra criterion: that most groups contain multiple males.

Does the Election Winner–Loser Gap Extend to Subjective Health and Well-Being?

Political scientists have studied extensively the gap between winners and losers of democratic elections with regard to satisfaction with democracy. We ask whether the winner–loser gap extends beyond the political domain to subjective health and well-being as well. Building on insights from biology and coalitional psychology, we hypothesize that winning and losing elections could affect one’s outlook on life, happiness, and subjective health. We comprehensively test these theoretical propositions with cross-sectional data from the 2012 and 2018 waves of the European Social Survey. We document significant gaps between winners and losers with respect to measures of subjective personal well-being. To further probe the causal nature of these winner–loser effects, we trace changes in well-being following election wins and losses using a panel dataset from the Netherlands, where we find weaker supportive evidence. Overall, our results suggest that winning and losing democratic elections can have much wider-reaching consequences than previously recognized.

Repeated Winning and Losing Experiences in Chronic Social Conflicts Are Linked to RNA Editing Pattern Difference.

Winner-loser effects influence subsequent agonistic interactions between conspecifics. Previous winning experiences could strengthen future aggression and increase the chance of winning the next agonistic interaction, while previous losing experiences could have the opposite effect. Although the role of A-to-I RNA editing has been recently implicated in chronic social defeat stress and aggressive behavior, it remains to be further elucidated in chronic social conflicts in agonistic interactions, especially in the repeated aggression (winners) and repeated defeat (losers) resulted from these conflicts. In the current study, transcriptome-wide A-to-I RNA editing in the dorsal striatum was investigated in a mouse model of chronic social conflicts, and compared between mice repeatedly winning and losing daily agonistic interactions. Our analysis identified 622 A-to-I RNA editing sites in the mouse dorsal striatum, with 23 to be differentially edited in 22 genes, most of which had been previously associated with neurological, psychiatric, or immune disorders. Among these differential RNA editing (DRE) sites four missense variants were observed in neuroligin 2 (Nlgn2), Cdc42 guanine nucleotide exchange factor 9 (Arhgef9) BLCAP apoptosis inducing factor (Blcap), and cytoplasmic FMR1 interacting protein 2 (Cyfip2), as well as two noncoding RNA sites in small nucleolar RNA host gene 11 (Snhg11) and the maternally expressed 3 (Meg3) gene. Moreover, significant changes were observed in gene functions and pathways enriched by genes with A-to-I RNA editing in losers and especially winners compared to controls. Our results demonstrate that repeated winning and losing experiences in chronic social conflicts are linked to A-to-I RNA editing pattern difference, underlining its role in the molecular mechanism of agonistic interactions between conspecifics.

Reproductive skew, fighting costs and winner–loser effects in social dominance evolution

Social hierarchies are often found in group‐living animals and can be formed through pairwise aggressive interactions. The dominance rank can influence reproductive success (RS) with a skew towards high‐ranking individuals.Using game theory, we investigate how the opportunity for differently ranked individuals to achieve RS influences the costs of hierarchy formation and the strength of winner and loser effects.In our model, individuals adjust their aggressive and submissive behaviour towards others through reinforcement learning. The learning is based on rewards and penalties, which depend on relative fighting ability. From individual‐based simulations, we determine evolutionary equilibria of traits such as learning rates. We examine situations that differ in the extent of monopolisation of contested RS by dominants and in the proportion of total RS that is contested.The model implements two kinds of fighting costs: a decrease in effective fighting ability from damage (loss of condition) and a risk of mortality that increases with the total accumulated damage. Either of these costs can limit the amount of fighting.We find that individuals form stable dominance hierarchies, with a positive correlation between dominance position and fighting ability. The accumulated costs differ between dominance positions, with the highest costs paid by low or intermediately ranked individuals. Costs tend to be higher in high‐skew situations.We identify a ‘stay‐in, opt‐out’ syndrome, comprising a range from weaker (stay‐in) to stronger (opt‐out) winner–loser effects. We interpret the opt‐out phenotype to be favoured by selection on lower ranked individuals to opt out of contests over social dominance, because it is more pronounced when more of the total RS is uncontested.We discuss our results in relation to field and experimental observations and argue that there is a need for empirical investigation of the behaviour and reproductive success of lower ranked individuals.

How feedback and feed-forward mechanisms link determinants of social dominance.

In many animal societies, individuals differ consistently in their ability to win agonistic interactions, resulting in dominance hierarchies. These differences arise due to a range of factors that can influence individuals' abilities to win agonistic interactions, spanning from genetically driven traits through to individuals' recent interaction history. Yet, despite a century of study since Schjelderup-Ebbe's seminal paper on social dominance, we still lack a general understanding of how these different factors work together to determine individuals' positions in hierarchies. Here, we first outline five widely studied factors that can influence interaction outcomes: intrinsic attributes, resource value asymmetry, winner-loser effects, dyadic interaction-outcome history and third-party support. A review of the evidence shows that a variety of factors are likely important to interaction outcomes, and thereby individuals' positions in dominance hierarchies, in diverse species. We propose that such factors are unlikely to determine dominance outcomes independently, but rather form part of feedback loops whereby the outcomes of previous agonistic interactions (e.g. access to food) impact factors that might be important in subsequent interactions (e.g. body condition). We provide a conceptual framework that illustrates the multitude potential routes through which such feedbacks can occur, and how the factors that determine the outcomes of dominance interactions are highly intertwined and thus rarely act independently of one another. Further, we generalise our framework to include multi-generational feed-forward mechanisms: how interaction outcomes in one generation can influence the factors determining interaction outcomes in the next generation via a range of parental effects. This general framework describes how interaction outcomes and the factors determining them are linked within generations via feedback loops, and between generations via feed-forward mechanisms. We then highlight methodological approaches that will facilitate the study of feedback loops and dominance dynamics. Lastly, we discuss how our framework could shape future research, including: how feedbacks generate variation in the factors discussed, and how this might be studied experimentally; how the relative importance of different feedback mechanisms varies across timescales; the role of social structure in modulating the effect of feedbacks on hierarchy structure and stability; and the routes of parental influence on the dominance status of offspring. Ultimately, by considering dominance interactions as part of a dynamic feedback system that also feeds forward into subsequent generations, we will understand better the factors that structure dominance hierarchies in animal groups.

Hierarchical development of dominance through the winner-loser effect and socio-spatial structure.

In many groups of animals the dominance hierarchy is linear. What mechanisms underlie this linearity of the dominance hierarchy is under debate. Linearity is often attributed to cognitively sophisticated processes, such as transitive inference and eavesdropping. An alternative explanation is that it develops via the winner-loser effect. This effect implies that after a fight has been decided the winner is more likely to win again, and the loser is more likely to lose again. Although it has been shown that dominance hierarchies may develop via the winner-loser effect, the degree of linearity of such hierarchies is unknown. The aim of the present study is to investigate whether a similar degree of linearity, like in real animals, may emerge as a consequence of the winner-loser effect and the socio-spatial structure of group members. For this purpose, we use the model DomWorld, in which agents group and compete and the outcome of conflicts is self-reinforcing. Here dominance hierarchies are shown to emerge. We analyse the dominance hierarchy, behavioural dynamics and network triad motifs in the model using analytical methods from a previous study on dominance in real hens. We show that when one parameter, representing the intensity of aggression, was set high in the model DomWorld, it reproduced many patterns of hierarchical development typical of groups of hens, such as its high linearity. When omitting from the model the winner-loser effect or spatial location of individuals, this resemblance decreased markedly. We conclude that the combination of the spatial structure and the winner-loser effect provide a plausible alternative for hierarchical linearity to processes that are cognitively more sophisticated. Further research should determine whether the winner-loser effect and spatial structure of group members also explains the characteristics of hierarchical development in other species with a different dominance style than hens.

Effects of Game Outcomes and Status Instability on Spectators' Status Consumption: The Moderating Role of Implicit Team Identification.

This study explores the interaction effects of game outcomes and status instability and the moderating role of implicit team identification on spectators’ status-seeking behavior (the pursuit and preservation of social status). The current study seeks to contribute to the existing consumer behavior and spectatorship literature by examining the counterintuitive outcomes of winner–loser effects through the application of the biosocial theory of status. In an online experiment, NFL fans’ retrospective spectating experiences were captured and manipulated. This experiment used a 2 (game outcome: victory vs. loss) × 2 (status instability: decisive vs. close) × 2 (iTeam ID: high vs. low) between-subjects design. The findings indicated that decisive victories and close losses positively influenced spectators’ future attendance as well as their intention to purchase luxury suites and merchandise featuring images of the team mascot. Conversely, decisive losses and close victories had a negative influence. Additionally, the more spectators implicitly identified with a particular team, the more they exhibited status-seeking behavior; even close victories positively influenced the outcomes. By applying a nascent theoretical approach in the field of consumer behavior (the hormonal account), our results provide fresh insight into explaining spectators’ status-seeking behavior. Also, the findings identify specific conditions in which spectators’ status-seeking behavior is enhanced, thus suggesting ways for managers to strategically allocate their resources.

Losers get sick? The effects of electoral defeat on perceptions of pandemic risk

Research in political behavior shows that citizens update their past perceptions and future expectations over several phenomena depending on whether their favorite party wins or loses the elections. This bias is explained by different psychological mechanisms triggered by individuals' attachment and trust in political parties. In this paper we investigate whether such a winner-loser effect conditions people's concerns about the Covid-19 pandemic. We leverage the occurrence of regional elections in six Italian regions in September 2020, right at the onset of the second wave of the pandemic in the country, to test whether supporting a candidate who won/lost the elections affects (1) people's fear to get sick with Covid-19, and (2) their expectation about the gravity of the upcoming second wave. Given that the public healthcare system in Italy is managed by the regions, we expect supporters of the losing candidate to lose trust in the region's ability to deal with the pandemic, hence increasing their personal concerns. We test this expectation using pre/post election panel data, and employing respondents from the other regions who voted at a concurrent referendum as a placebo group. Our results show that, while overall concerns tend to decrease from the first to the second wave, for elections losers they remain unchanged. This indicates that losing an election, albeit second-order, can affect citizens' outlook on future events in domains that are largely beyond political control.

Review of: "Reproductive skew, fitness costs, and winner-loser effects in social-dominance evolution"

Review of: "Reproductive skew, fitness costs, and winner-loser effects in social-dominance evolution"