If you could win an Olympic medal, which would you prefer the silver or the bronze? The answer appears obvious, doesn’t it? The silver is for second place; the bronze is for third. Or is it as simple as it sounds? Kent Crockett, in his book I Once Was Blind but Now I Squint tells about a surprising study of Olympic medal winners.

You would assume that the silver medal winners would be happier than the bronze medalists since they received a higher honor, but that isn’t always the case. The bronze medalists, who came in third place, were actually found to be happier with their performance than the silver medalists, who finished in second place.

The former Olympians explained why they felt this way. The third-place winners were thrilled just to have won a medal. The silver medalists, on the…