title: The surprising benefit of passive-aggressive behaviour at Christmas parties: being crowned king of the crackers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To test the effects of technique and attitude in pulling Christmas crackers.
  
  
  METHODS
  A binomial trial conducted at a Christmas-in-July dinner party involving five anonymous dinner guests, including two of the authors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Number of wins achieved by different strategies, with a win defined as securing the larger portion of the cracker.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The previously "guaranteed" 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).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Digital Productivity Flagship, CSIRO, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. k.lecao@uq.edu.au.
authors.forename: B Emma
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Digital Productivity Flagship, CSIRO, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Clifford
authors.affiliation: University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, Translational Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Kim-Anh
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Lê Cao
mesh_terms: D003163:Competitive Behavior; D006693:Holidays / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D010988:Play and Playthings / Q000523:psychology; D014925:Wit and Humor as Topic