Various analyses, carried out on a large scale in baseball and soccer, show that a statistically very high percentage of excellent players (national youth, professional) were born in the first months of the year. Also the representative of Spain, world champion in 2010 and European champion in 2008 and 2012, follows this strange rule: of the twenty-three athletes who were often part of the Spanish team in those fantastic eight years, thirteen were born in the first five months of the year; none in October, one in November and one in December. If we don’t believe astrology, there must be another explanation, and it’s not very difficult to identify: they simply enjoy what is called a “cumulative advantage.” In this Psychology-Online article, we will discover together What is the Matthew effect in psychology, with some examples to understand it even better.
The matthew effect, a psychological concept
What is the Matthew effect? With the term Saint Matthew effect (or Matthew effect, in English Matthew effect), in sociology, indicates a process by which, in certain situations, the new resources that are made available are distributed among the participants in proportion to what they already have. The term was coined in 1968 by the sociologist Robert K. Merton, who in collaboration with his students and his second wife, the sociologist Harriet Zuckerman, discovered this expression to indicate, within scientific communities, a cumulative effect that tends to exponentially reward those who already occupy a privileged role.
He referred to a passage from the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, in which it is written: “For to him who has, to him will be given, and he will have plenty; but from those who do not have, what they have will also be taken away. This concept is also present several times in the other two synoptic Gospels, at the end of the parable of the talents (in Matthew and Luke), and that of the sower (in Mark and Luke).
Despite having been born to study this phenomenon in the field of sociology of science, the term “Matthew effect” is also used to explain the proportional distribution of resources in the field of learning sciences and the science of networks. Currently, it is widely applied within the framework of the dynamics that regulate the dissemination of media content on social networks and the laws that determine the construction of a greater or lesser social reputation.
Let’s look at examples of the Matthew effect in science, in sports, at school and on the networks.
The Matthew effect in the sociology of science
Merton used this term in his studies to describe the mechanisms through which privileges and remunerations are granted within scientific communities, such as greater ease of publishing and obtaining prestigious commissions. Merton and his students noticed thate scientists who achieve success in the first years of their career (for example, publishing an article in a well-known magazine, or collaborating with another famous author), later they have a much easier time publishingand therefore more credibility and success of their own theories, quality and any other factor being equal.
This effect is often considered among cases of inequality in the recognition of value in the communication of scientific results, which influences the development of individual careers, since initial success produces distribution effects that are not proportionate to capabilities. real demonstrated throughout the professional career.
The Matthew effect in sports
Another example of the Matthew effect that makes it much more understanding is what occurs in sports. Those born in the first months of the year, at the beginning of their sports training, are physically more mature; In a six-year-old child, eight or nine months can make a difference, and in the additional life time at his disposal it is also possible that a father who is passionate about sports has unknowingly trained his son more, making him play. sporadically with a ball on the weekend. Being more mature, they receive more attention than coaches and parentsthey are chosen to participate in the youth teams, they join the older team, they feel more capable and motivated.
All this excess training and motivation leads them to train with more dedication and attention, making them progressively better than others. Creating a vicious cycle that feeds back their enthusiasm (and that of coaches and parents) and producing a great profit over the years.
The Matthew effect at school
In the field of education, the Matthew effect should indicate the proportional relationship between the achievement of reading ability at an early age and future success in acquiring additional cognitive skills. The term was first used in this field by researchers Walber and Tsai in 1983, but it was psychologist Keith Stanovich who adopted it to describe the observation of the phenomenon according to which children who learn reading-related skills early tend to have advantage in acquiring more skills in the future, while difficulties in learning to read in the third or fourth year of school education They usually lead to problems throughout life in the acquisition of additional capabilities.
The Matthew effect in network science
In the field of network science, the San Mateo effect is generally used to explain how nodes with multiple connections tend to attract new connections by increasing their connectivity and attractiveness proportionally. This trend explains, therefore, the formation and structure of some nodes in networks as extensive as the Internet. At the birth of the Web, in fact, information was used in a chaotic manner; with the increase in the amount of information, search engines began to reorder the contents following a very rational scheme. The structuring of online information is organized according to the logic of the San Mateo effect: The most clicked pages are those that are placed in the first positions in the search.
The Matilda Effect
In 1993, the science historian Margaret Rossiter coined the expression “Matilda effect” (in honor of the activist Matilda J. Gage), as a corollary of the Mateo effect, to denounce the social situation of women scientists, who receive less credit and recognition for their work than their male colleagues. The Matilda effect has been assimilated to the Matthew Effect, taking into consideration not the lesser or greater notoriety of a scientist but whether he is a woman or a man. This has been defined as a phenomenon whereby, especially in the scientific field, the result of research work carried out by a woman is attributed in whole or in part to a man.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- Casadei, I. (2015). To school! Milan: network!
- Cubeiro, JC, Gallardo, L. (2012). Mourinho Coaching. Milan: Antonio Vallardi Editore.