Why do people offer draw if they're losing in a game?

Magnus Carlsen can answer this the best.  

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.chess.com/amp/news/world-chess-championship-game-12-carlsen-offers-draw-in-better-position-to-reach-tiebreaks

This post reminded me of something that happened over the board in the Past. I was playing an opponent and stuck my hand out to shake and say I resign. My opponent shook my hand and said I accept the draw offer lol.

It's a bit like the arguments about people who play on when they are losing. 

In my opinion you only need to worry about your pieces, your movements, your offers of draws or resigns, and your clock. 

Of course, you need to take notice of what your opponent does but where they move their pieces, how quickly they move, and whether they offer to draw or resign or whether they accept your offers is entirely their choice. That's just how chess works.

they beg for mercy.. but they are your enemy!! show no mercy. it's better this way

I'm in a slightly worse position now and I'm offering a draw . in a tournament it can be good for both players: both get a half-point and maybe both go on to the next round without additional struggle. why not? unless you want to practice long-drawn endgames (might be a good practice sometimes)

It's usually people that are very drunk, or people that on a substance that is strong or a mixture of both. 

why didnt you sneak behind and knock him off unconscious.. or put a sleeping pill in his drink.

Or shoot the guy. 

You can't think outside of a box, if you was trapped in a box made of graphite and you couldn't escape. All you could do is imagine what may or may not be outside of that box. 

So you're saying you'd beat be able to defeat me, without being able to see the board. I think that would be impossible to do. 

when you're losing and you offer a draw, most likely it can be because you don't want to lose would be the simple answer. When you draw, you don't lose as many points than when you lose

It's not because they don't want to lose their rating.

They offer a draw in the spur of the moment because it's a passive-aggressive reaction to realizing they're going to lose the game. They are frustrated.

I have declined a draw offer multiple times in games with opponents on live 960 chess 10|0 who refuse to resign when they are clearly in a lost position and / or running out of time on the clock (repeated offers after I gained an advantage in the position or near the end of the game)!? Must be young inexperienced kids or even frustrated adults.. The point, why play unfairly, if you expect your opponent to respect you and not act that way also?! Crazy stuff on chess.com. Expect the unexpected and move on. *** They may be gambling and can't pay the debt... life, its time to grow up and / or stop making bad decisions! They really need the light of the Lord!! Ha Ha, to help them get happy and out of the darkness... Peace!

It’s poor sportsmanship and disrespectfull.

Because it's worth a try

Chess can be simple if we are allowed to stay calm, but, this other stuff just makes a tough game tougher!

Offering a draw can also be a sign of good sportsmanship. A number of times I've had winning positions but was also much lower on time. My opponents offered draws, I guess, because they didn't want to win by dirty flag. Granted, it doesn't happen very often. My point is, you can't really know why the draw offer is made. It's a little ridiculous to take it as some kind of personal affront. And besides, what's so tough about just refusing it and moving on?

because they don't want to lose, and they just see if their opponent accepts it - even I do that out of anger of playing badly.

I know it's four years later, but I hope you reported that guy for his horribly bad sportsmanship.