A sophomore slump (also known as a sophomore jinx or sophomore jitters) is when a
sophomore
In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...
fails to live up to the relatively high standards that occurred during
freshman
A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...
year.
It is commonly used to refer to the apathy of students (second year of high school, college or university), the performance of athletes (second season of play), singers/bands (second album), television shows (second seasons), films and video games (sequels/prequels).
In the United Kingdom, the "sophomore slump" is more commonly referred to as "second year blues", particularly when describing university students. In Australia, it is known as "second year syndrome", and is particularly common when referring to professional athletes who have a mediocre second season following a stellar debut.
The phenomenon of a "sophomore slump" can be explained psychologically, where earlier success has a reducing effect on the subsequent effort, but it can also be explained statistically, as an effect of the
regression towards the mean, in which an outlier case is followed by a case closer to the average.
Industry-specific terms
In the world of music, there is a common phenomenon known as the sophomore album curse/syndrome, where newly popular artists often struggle to replicate their initial success with their second album, which is often characterized by struggles in changing musical style. Artists such as
Billy Bragg
Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, author and political activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic th ...
(''
Talking with the Taxman About Poetry''),
Dr. Strangely Strange,
Black Reindeer,
Roddy Ricch
Rodrick Wayne Moore Jr. (born October 22, 1998), known professionally as Roddy Ricch, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Born and raised in Compton, California, Moore rose to fame in 2018 following the release of his song "Die Young ...
(''
Live Life Fast''), and
Jack Harlow
Jackman Thomas Harlow (born March 13, 1998) is an American rapper and singer. He began his recording career in 2015, and released several EPs and mixtapes until signing with Don Cannon and DJ Drama's record label Generation Now, an imprint of A ...
(''
Come Home the Kids Miss You'') have referenced the effect in their respective album titles and artwork. American
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...
band
Grandaddy
Grandaddy is an American indie rock band from Modesto, California, Modesto, California. The group was formed in 1992, and featured Jason Lytle, Aaron Burtch, Jim Fairchild, Kevin Garcia and Tim Dryden, until Garcia's death in 2017 following a ...
used a
double entendre
A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacc ...
for their second album, titled ''
The Sophtware Slump''.
In
English football, second season syndrome is the phrase that is used to describe a downturn in fortunes for a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
club in its second season after its promotion to the
Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
, particularly if the first season after promotion had brought a strong finish.
Similar phrases are known in other countries as well: In Germany for example, a common phrase is that "the second year is the most difficult one" ("das zweite Jahr ist das schwerste Jahr"), referencing situations in which a team stayed in their new league in the first year after promotion but struggling to save the league the year after.
See also
*
Regression toward the mean
In statistics, regression toward the mean (also called regression to the mean, reversion to the mean, and reversion to mediocrity) is the phenomenon where if one sample of a random variable is extreme, the next sampling of the same random var ...
*
Second-system effect
The second-system effect or second-system syndrome is the tendency of small, elegant, and successful systems to be succeeded by over-engineered, bloated systems, due to inflated expectations and overconfidence.
The phrase was first used by Fred ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
oward Wainer (2007), "The Most Dangerous Equation", ''American Scientist'' 95
English phrases
Terminology used in multiple sports