Why do we root for the underdog?

Rooting for the underdog is home-made justice. As with home-made brownies, the flavor is irresistable.

brilliant.

We value fairness. If you see a big buff 18 year old getting into a fight with a 13 year old, scrawny one, chances are you're going to take the side of the 13 year old because he is at a huge disadvantage. Our way of making things more fair, at least in our minds, is by passively supporting the underdog.

Perhaps there's also something exciting about an underdog "winning." It's unexpected and more entertaining. I tend to support underdog sports teams, for example, partly because nobody ever takes my home team seriously but also because it tends to be a more interesting game if the underdog is playing just as hard as the supposedly better team.

Because most of us have a lot of "David" in us....
Not so much "Goliath"....
Think, that's it?....

maybe because....we can relate?

it feels like slum to hero...

I read that it's genetic, we feel sympathy for the underdog and not the 'opressor'.

I suppose in a lot of situations, it stems from the euphoria one gets from winning. Championing the underdog and having them win would usually appeal because it may seem a 'double bonus' to the majority of humans.

1. To prove that the winners can also come from an unlikely group (or those deemed to lose even before they have proven their worth)

2. To show that being a 'non-conformist' (and going against the majority) can prove to be right.

Everyone loves the feeling of being winners. Supporting the underdogs and having them come out tops, unexpectedly, just makes the winning feeling sweeter. It makes them not only winners, but those who support them - winners too.

All of the above are true, although underdog victories go back much further than the American Revolution.
(Aside: if revolution is outlawed, only outlaws will revolve.)

There is one more element, though. We all like a good story, and it is not nearly as interesting, fun, or suspenseful if the big guy beats up the little guy and that's the end of the story. It is much more exciting and intriguing to see someone overcoming great obstacles and dodge certain destruction than to watch somebody swat a fly.

Also, in the telling of a story, usually the choice is made to portray the big guy as evil and the little guy as virtuous. This puts our sympathy with the little guy.

I do that, unless the underdog is an a*****e.


I think it's because it gives us hope, that anything is possible in life.

If rooting for the underdog is an American rather than a universal idea, it might have come from the early days in professional baseball. The first successful professional team was the Cincinnati Reds, or some variation like Redlegs, Redsocks. They made their living as a traveling show by challenging local teams to a baseball game. Since they were the superior team, for years they always won. The local people always rooted for the local team, which was of course the underdog.

I dont think it's an American idea. Most people I know always go for the under-dog. It feels great to watch the little guy winning. But its horrible watching him lose. I'm reminded of whem Munster played The All Blacks a while back, we were so close to winning, but then that speedy bollix Joe Roccococo got the ball and bacically flew up the wing. I was and still am gutted about it

Or if rooting for the underdog is not an American idea, maybe it became an American idea because it came for Ireland or Italy. Did Caligula ever root for the underdog? 8)

Or it could be a dyslexic translation of the Pledge of Aligence . . . one nation under dog . . .

Could be the need to help or aid another. When we find someone who was said to not stand a chance actually make it, it tends to get everyone feeling good. Could be one of those, This actually helping me by helping you, sort of things. Also, the underdogs tend to help or root for one another in my opinion.

That's it! The main reason - imo.

A good example of a underdog battle would the battle of Rourke's Drift, in which 100 or so british soldiers held off an army of 4,000 zulu warriors for two days, at a missionary outpost.
the Zulu saluted the courage of the soldiers and then withdrew.

A totally cool movie. And Michael Caine, a total babe.