how does frame affect the winner effect/testosterone?

[lao che]

i think the winner effect, and it's opposite, is something we can all relate to. who hasn't felt that surge of testosterone after achieving a victory (fist pump YESSS!), and likewise the pain and humiliation of defeat.
but what does it do to the winner effect if we were to reframe defeat in a more positive light? or what if we don't see it as "losing" at all?

at my BJJ class last night i sparred with a couple of guys who are around the same level as me.
one guy is without a job and trains 6 days a week, sometimes twice a day. he's definitely got the advantage in terms of strength, focused training, and youth. however i can often give him a run for his money. he tapped me out last night, despite me having dominated him for several minutes.
now, if i tapped him out i definitely would have felt that lovely rush of pride and achievement, but having him beat me gives me none of the opposite. in fact i'm glad for him. he's applying himself and working hard towards a goal, and is kind of the "darling" of our gym.
the other guy, i've sparred with him before and didn't expect him to give me a hard time, however, surprisingly he tapped me out three times! this just makes me more determined to learn and improve.
after that i sparred with the coach, who threw me around like a rag-doll and tied me up in knots. i can't feel bad about that. in fact it's a lot of fun, and i feel hopeful that in several years i'll be at that level.

this is something i started to think about after witnessing johnny hendrix beat the shit out of george saint pierre for 25 minutes, and then seeing the judges award the the victory to GSP.
i think most people who watched that fight, and both competitors, believed the win to be hendrix's.
so who get's the "winner effect" in that situation? i can't see GSP having a rush of testosterone after the ref raised his hand. in fact, i think the opposite would be true. i would think he would feel somewhat humiliated.
and hendrix could hold his head up high and certainly claim the "moral victory" despite leaving the ring without the belt.

i'm not wanting to debate the outcome of the fight, just using it as an example to illustrate my point

 

[Fuck This]

I've been known to say "better performance through lowered expectations."

In Life we are presented with situations where we are not trained , or conditioned enough to exact a win. Thus it is important to set a secondary, more reasonable goal. Examples would be to land X# of blows in a round, to run a negative split in a race (second half faster than first), Have no false starts, draw no fouls, play aggressive defense , etc.

Clear and concise, reasonable goals will give you the winner effect even if you don't win it all. The key is to write down a list of goals in order of importance. My running and racing friends often write race reports with an "A goal, B goal and C goal". A is achieving a time where everything goes right and all the training to this point has prepared you to acheive that goal. The B goal is to have a respectable performance for the level of training, and a C goal is when it just isn't your day but you persevere anyway.