@article{ref1,
title="The surprising benefit of passive-aggressive behaviour at Christmas parties: being crowned king of the crackers",
journal="Medical journal of Australia",
year="2014",
author="Huang, B. Emma and Clifford, David and Lê Cao, Kim-Anh",
volume="201",
number="11",
pages="694-696",
abstract="OBJECTIVE: To test the effects of technique and attitude in pulling Christmas crackers. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A binomial trial conducted at a Christmas-in-July dinner party involving five anonymous dinner guests, including two of the authors. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Number of wins achieved by different strategies, with a win defined as securing the larger portion of the cracker. <br><br>RESULTS: The previously &quot;guaranteed&quot; strategy for victory, employing a downwards angle towards the puller, failed to differentiate itself from random chance (win rate, 6/15; probability of winning, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.15-0.65). A novel passive-aggressive strategy, in which one individual just holds on without pulling, provided a significant advantage (win rate, 11/12; probability of winning, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.76-1.00). <br><br>CONCLUSION: The passive-aggressive strategy of failing to pull has a high rate of success at winning Christmas crackers; however, excessive adoption of this approach will result in a complete failure, with no winners at all.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0025-729X",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}