The win-loss effect can be described as the process of influencing the perception of the interlocutor by people, depending on his opinions about them. Thus, people advised the interlocutor who spoke about them not just positively but with the transition from harmful to positive reviews. The same situation is observed; on the contrary, most of all, people did not like the interlocutor who spoke about them, not negatively, but with passing reviews from positive to negative. In order to achieve a successful gain effect, certain conditions must be met. The first aspect is the correlation of concepts. When moving from a negative statement to a positive one, it is essential that the statements are on the same topic. This means that if the interlocutor first says that a person, for example, is poorly versed in classical literature, then a positive statement should also be about this subject. At the same time, the interlocutor must show that he has logically rethought his position so that the change of opinion looks correct and logical.
The second important rule for achieving the result of the gain effect is gradualness. People are not inclined to change their minds drastically; if they do so, the interlocutor will be confused, and this will cause distrust. Therefore, the transition from negative to positive statements should be smooth. In this case, this will help the interlocutor tune in to the train of thought and understand that the fact that the person has changed his initial opinion about him is pretty standard. This theory is quite realistic, but requires confirmation in real life to find out if it coincides with the behavior of people.
There are several factors in this win-loss effect that many people can agree on. The theory states that the transition of opinions about a person must be smooth. Otherwise, it will not work. This really makes sense since the gradual change of opinion is more common to people than abrupt change without any explanation. During the intermediate phase, the interlocutor can calm down and analyze the information he has heard, and then he can more readily accept later praise without suspicion. However, some theses of the theory do not seem to be working. For example, the theory says that it is worth changing your mind only on the same categories. This does not seem like a good idea since one can also take similar related topics, and the theory will still work. A person can say that his interlocutor was bad at rock music and then gradually come to the conclusion that the one with whom he spoke is very educated in matters of classical music or music in general. In this case, the effect should also work because the concept of music is broader than the concept of rock music.
To support the win-loss theory, a personal life story should be cited as an example. When entering college, I always behaved detached and silent, thereby communicating poorly with people and not revealing myself as a person. Because of this, my classmates considered me gloomy and unfriendly, which they often talked about among themselves. However, sometime later, during a lacrosse match, the whole group began to discuss the event actively, and I, who had previously behaved aloof, joined the conversation. As classmates communicated, their opinion of me changed from negative to positive, and soon, they began to consider me friendly and cheerful. In this situation, the theory worked and had a significant impact on my feelings, as I now became part of the company and made new friends.
It can be learned from the study that the win-loss theory is the same as how people most often feel. In addition, this theory can be confirmed in real life, as described above. From all this, it can be concluded that the theory has a practical justification and is proven in practice. This can significantly influence people’s perception of each other, not only during the conversation itself but also leave an emotional imprint for a long time.