Sophomore slump

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A sophomore slump or sophomore jinx (U.S. English) refers to an instance in which a sophomore effort fails to live up to the standards of the first effort. It is commonly used to refer to the performance of students (sophomore year), athletes (second season of play), bands (sophomore album), and television shows (second seasons).

[edit] Causes

There are many factors that can contribute to the sophomore slump, including:

The fear that the initial success was a fluke and cannot easily be repeated, leading to trying too hard and second-guessing one's actions.^{[citation needed]}
A delusion that the initial success is an indication of genius and that failure is not possible, leading to only a perfunctory effort.^{[citation needed]}
A student may expect that the second year of studies will be no more difficult than the first and learn otherwise.^{[citation needed]}
The second album syndrome: A band may craft their first album over a period of years by writing dozens of songs, trying them out before audiences, and choosing the ten most crowd-pleasing songs to record once they get a contract; once this album is successful, however, the record company will demand that the next album be completed in about a year, giving little opportunity to play the material for an audience—and the band may record songs that wouldn't have made the cut for their first album. Alternatively, bands committed to the integrity of their work may take many years to complete the second album, losing fans in the interim.
A student may realize in his sophomore year that he is only halfway through high school or college.
A musician's record label may wish to capitalize on the success of hit songs from the first album by forcing the band to produce superficially similar-sounding material for the second. If the band does not comply, the label may threaten to refuse the band's first attempt at a second album. This stifles the band's artistic growth, and fans eager for new material may find the familiar-sounding second album disappointing.
In academics, a student's energy and momentum can wear off, with graduation years away.^{[citation needed]}
The individual may find that satisfaction gained from the first year's results may not be sufficient motivation to invest the same level of effort the second year.
Regression toward the mean: If a first effort is particularly outstanding, statistically it is likely that the next will be closer to average. This is often cited as the reason why many Rookie of the Year athletes go on to have subsequently unremarkable careers.
Second-system effect in computing, a tendency to "upgrade" a compact system into one burdened with too many needless features