Explanation of how being a poor winner can be considered a negative character trait. Also refer to taunting, gloating, ridiculing, laughing, competition, opponent, professional sports, consequences, jerk, considerate, modesty, congratulate, Ron Kurtus, School for Champions. Copyright © Restrictions
Don't Be a Poor Winner
by Ron Kurtus (15 December 2002)
Everyone knows that a poor loser is a person who gets angry when he or she loses a competition. A poor winner, though, is a person who ridicules the loser after the victory. No one likes a poor winner. Instead, you should be modest and considerate after a victory. That shows your character.
Questions you may have are:
- What are some things a poor winner does?
- What are the consequences of such actions?
- What should you do when you win?
This lesson will answer those questions. There is a mini-quiz near the end of the lesson.
Traits of a poor winner
A poor winner is a person who will win a competition or will make a good play in a game and then ridicule or taunt the opponent. Sometimes the person will strut around and gloat at how much better he is than the other person.
Other examples of this include laughing at the other player when he misses a shot or makes a mistake and telling the opponent he stinks after beating him. You may see this type of action in many professional sports.
Sometimes the taunting is done during a game to try to get the opponent completely lose control of his playing when behind in the game. After a victory, taunting or ridiculing the opponent is done simply to "rub salt in the wound," as well as to verify the winner's superiority.
Men are usually guilty of being poor winners more often than women.
Consequences
One result of being a poor winner is that other people will not want to play with you, nor will they like you. This may not be a factor in professional or organized sports, but it can be upsetting in casual competition with friends or acquaintances.
On the other hand, if you have character in your victories, others will want to play you again, to see if they can challenge you.
Although the superior player who is a poor winner may still beat opponents that will play with him, in general, others will not care to associate with such a person whom they consider a jerk.
What to do
If you win a competition or score a point over your opponent, don't gloat. You can congratulate yourself and even celebrate, but don't rub it in the other person's face.
Modesty and consideration for the other person's feelings are important positive character traits. You could even complement the loser as giving a good effort.
The consequence of good sportsmanship is that you will be admired as a skilled player and not as a total jerk that everyone dislikes. Since you won, you don't need to go any further than that.
In conclusion
A poor winner will taunt and ridicule the loser after the victory. People do not care to play with a poor winner. You should be modest and considerate after a victory. It is considered good sportsmanship and shows you have positive character.
Be aware of other's feelings
Resources
The following resources provide information on this subject.
Websites
Books
Miscellaneous
Mini-quiz to check your understanding
If you got all three correct, you are on your way to becoming a Champion in understanding Character. If you had problems, you had better look over the material again.
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Don't Be a Poor Winner