Happiness on the Medal Stand? It's as Simple as 1-3-2.

Olympic athletes are not the only ones who make such comparisons, of course. People use counterfactual thinking all the time to weigh how they feel about their jobs and salaries, about their relationships and their life.

Madey, a psychologist at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, said counterfactual reasoning is closely related to people's expectations. A student who expects a B in a test would be delighted to get a B-plus, but if it turns out he nearly got an A, he is now likely to focus on what he missed.

"Initially, they wanted only a B, but getting close to an A leaves them unsatisfied," Madey said.

In general, Gilovich said, comparing ourselves against people who do better than us can help us do better. When the silver medalist replays the race in her mind and imagines getting off the starting blocks faster, or finishing more smartly, it can help her improve her performance.

The problem, however, is that comparisons with those who do better than us can carry on long after they have ceased to play a useful role. For example, Abel Kiviat's recurring regret over the 1912 Games only caused him pain.

"The key to understanding happiness is not to think about it as a trait but as a talent," Gilovich said, quoting a colleague. "Happy people have a talent -- they are able to argue life is a glass half full. They are able to say, 'I have gone over this enough, now let me be happy I got a silver medal.' "

Psychology can help people see how the unconscious choices they make influence how they feel, but it is not very good at telling people what choices they ought to make.

"One of life's many dilemmas is where you set that bar to create the optimal balance between achievement and satisfaction," Gilovich added. "That's where you leave the science of psychology and get to the art of living."