Interpersonal Competition Research Articles

Perceptions of Income Inequality and Women's Intrasexual Competition.

Income inequality has been empirically linked to interpersonal competition and risk-taking behaviors, but a separate line of findings consistently shows that individuals have inaccurate perceptions of the actual levels of income inequality in society. How can inequality be both consistently misperceived and yet a reliable predictor of behavior? The present study extends both these lines of research by evaluating if the scope of input used to assess income inequality (i.e., at the national, state, county, or postal code level) can account for perception discrepancies and if actual/perceived inequality is associated with female intrasexual competition. Female participants recruited online from the general US population (n = 691) provided demographic information, measures of perceived income inequality, and measures of intrasexual competition attitudes and behavior. Actual and perceived income inequality (at any level) did not predict negative attitudes toward other women or female weighting of physical appearance as a desirable trait. Perceived income inequality and actual county-level inequality was, however, predictive of female competition in the form of self-sexualization clothing choice. Further analyses found that age and importance placed on physical attractiveness also predicted women's clothing choices. Perceptions of income inequality were predicted not by actual Gini indices, but by beliefs about the levels of poverty and income gaps. These results highlight the importance of better understanding the proximate cues by which people perceive environmental features such as inequality, and how those cues are used to adjust interpersonal behaviors.

The effect of competition on children's merit-based resource allocation: The difference between interpersonal and intergroup competition.

Competition usually exists in groups in everyday interactions, but how children allocate according to competition outcomes (e.g., merit-based allocation) after intergroup competition and the difference in children's allocations of rewards between interpersonal and intergroup competition remain unclear. Children aged 3-8 years were asked to complete interpersonal or intergroup competitive games and were further asked to allocate rewards between themselves and their partners (Study 1) or between their group and the other group (Studies 2 and 3) and to reason about their decisions. We found that after interpersonal competition, children tended to conduct merit-based allocations when they won but were more inclined to conduct equal allocations when they lost; after intergroup competition, children were more inclined to make equal allocations regardless of whether they won or lost, only less than half of children followed meritorious principles. However, children conducted more merit-based allocations with age after both interpersonal and intergroup competitions. In addition, children showed less bias towards their own side after intergroup competition than after interpersonal competition. Finally, they demonstrated an earlier proclivity towards being influenced by winning outcomes than by losing outcomes after interpersonal competition, whereas a converse tendency was found after intergroup competition.

Family Motivation Effect on Interpersonal Competition Moderated by Perceived Job Insecurity

Family Motivation Effect on Interpersonal Competition Moderated by Perceived Job Insecurity

When sales leaders induce competition among sales employees: a source of motivation or exhaustion?

Many sales leaders support competition among their employees. However, inducing competition among peers may exhibit beneficial, motivating as well as harmful, exhausting effects, and which of the two countervailing effects prevails remains an open question. Drawing on the job-demand resources model and 20 interviews with sales professionals, this study proposes that competition-inducing leadership (CIL) exhibits ambivalent effects on sales employees’ positive stimulation and emotional exhaustion, which depend on the specific combination of employees’ extrinsic motivational orientation and role overload. A cross-national, multilevel dataset from 503 business-to-business sales employees reporting to 131 supervisors of a multinational industrial supplier firm supports these propositions. Thus, this study contributes to sales leadership and interpersonal competition research by empirically clarifying that CIL is a double-edged sword that cannot be one-sidedly categorized as beneficial or harmful.

Explaining the Outcomes of Social Gamification: A Longitudinal Field Experiment

ABSTRACT Social gamification, which allows technology users to interact with each other in gamified tasks, has drawn increasing interest due to its effectiveness in facilitating users’ game engagement and task efforts. In social gamification, users can compete or cooperate with other users or teams to complete game tasks and achieve game goals. However, it remains unclear how various social interaction mechanisms (SIMs), such as cooperation, interpersonal competition, and intergroup competition, influence gamification outcomes when they are separately or jointly implemented. In addition, the effects of SIMs on experiential and instrumental gamification outcomes have not been well differentiated. In this study, we systematically investigate the influences of these fundamental SIMs, as well as the possible interaction effects among them, on fitness app users’ game engagement and fitness behavior. Using a fitness app custom-developed for the Chinese market, Fitness Castle, we conducted a longitudinal field experiment to test our proposed model and hypotheses. The results indicate that when separately implemented, cooperation and interpersonal competition can lead to differential instrumental gamification outcomes in the fitness context. We also systematically compare the differential gamification outcomes when cooperation, interpersonal competition, and intergroup competition are combined in various coopetition settings. Our study offers a theory-based framework and design principles for social gamification. Our findings help practitioners better design SIMs in their gamified technologies with the purpose of achieving optimal experiential and instrumental gamification outcomes simultaneously.

Interpersonal Competition in Elderly Couples: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Hyperscanning Study

Elderly people tend not to compete with others, and if they do, the mechanism behind the competition is not clear. In this study, groups of elderly couples and matched cross-sex controls were recruited to perform a competitive button-pressing task, while their brain signals were simultaneously collected using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning. Several fundamental observations were made. First, controls showed attenuated interpersonal competition across task processes, but couples held the competition with each other. Second, couples demonstrated increased inter-brain synchronization (IBS) between the middle temporal cortex and the temporoparietal junction across task processes. Third, Granger causality analysis in couples revealed significant differences between the directions (i.e., from men to women, and from women to men) in the first half of the competitive task, whereas there was no significant difference in the second half. Finally, the groups of couples and controls could be successfully discriminated against based on IBS by using a machine-learning approach. In sum, these findings indicate that elderly couples can maintain interpersonal competition, and such maintenance might be associated with changes in the IBS of the mentalizing system. It suggests the possible positive impact of long-term spouse relationships on interpersonal interactions, both behaviorally and neurally, in terms of competition.

When and why does competitive psychological climate affect employee engagement and burnout?

Managers and scholars now more than ever recognize the importance of emphasizing and urging improved performance among employees. Extant literature and prior work highlight that perceived interpersonal competition in the workplace is influential in determining employees' career outcomes by shaping their job or career development experience (i.e., more or less engagement and burnout at work). However, our current understanding of when and why competitive psychological climate contributes to more or less engagement and burnout at work is limited, particularly from a work-specific, behavioral regulation perspective. Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory, and using multisource data collected from 306 employees and 37 supervisors in the retail bank sector, our results show that competitive psychological climate, when supported by contingent reward, facilitates exploratory learning, which in turn leads to more engagement and less burnout at work. In contrast, when aligned with contingent punishment, competitive psychological climate promotes exploitative learning, which in turn contributes to more burnout at work. Our work contributes to vocational theory and practice by specifying the work-specific conditions in which and behavioral processes through which employees respond positively and negatively to competitive psychological climate. Our findings provide managers with novel insights into their influential roles in facilitating the specific type of work behaviors employees adopt in response to competitive psychological climate, and how they subsequently feel at work.

SPIRITUAL PSYCHOTHERAPY FOR SCHADENFREUDE BEHAVIOUR OF ADOLESCENTS ON DIGITAL TRENDS

Digital trends with many teenagers who are active in social media from various platforms innovate and create to be able to become FYP (For Your Page) shows, presenting pro-con content by involving the sadness and misfortune of others and even enjoying the condition of others who are experiencing problems has become a common phenomenon among adolescent content creators. The feeling of pleasure derived from the sadness of others and the lack of empathy is a Schadenfreude behavior related to the self-esteem of the individual. This study aims to find out how the process and effectiveness of the application of Islamic psychotherapy in reducing Schadenfreude behavior in adolescent content creators in Pamekasan Regency. The method used in this study was a descriptive qualitative method with a case study. The process of collecting data on this research was carried out by means of observation, interviews and documentation of the process of applying spiritual psychotherapy. The data sources in this study involved four adolescents of the male sex who became activists of social media content creators, both tiktokers, YouTubers, or celebgrams, as well as literature as secondary data. Data analysis was performed using Miles and Huberman models. The conclusions obtained from this study are: 1) Schadenfreude's behavior carried out based on rivalry, which is more individualistic and related to interpersonal competition (both between friends and between content creators) 2) The spiritual psychotherapy model given to four respondents, namely including meditation therapy, fardu and zikr prayer therapy, and Qur'an therapy 3) The success of the application of the spiritual psychotherapy model in four respondents was generally quite successful. i.e. minimizing Schadenfreude's behavior. All four respondents showed positive changes in both individual self-esteem, emotions, behavior and in the frequency of worship.

Family motivation effect on interpersonal competition moderated by perceived job insecurity

Family motivation effect on interpersonal competition moderated by perceived job insecurity

Impact of Interpersonal Competition on Knowledge Hiding Behavior Among the Employees: Mediating Role of Moral Disengagement and Work Overload.

The knowledge hiding behavior (KHB) can obstruct the stream of information to decrease the creativity in the organization. This study examines the effect of interpersonal competition on KHB, moral disengagement (MD), and work overload (WO). Moreover, this study also examines the impact of MD and WO on KHB. Also, the study examines the mediating role of MD and WO between interpersonal competition and KHB. The study was carried out by quantitative methodology, and 361 employees were engaged to fill the questionnaires employed in manufacturing companies from China. A convenient sampling technique had used for data collection. The findings of this study indicate that interpersonal competition positively and significantly affects KHB, MD, and WO. Moreover, this study established that MD and WO positively and significantly impact KHB. According to the results, MD WO significantly mediates interpersonal competition and KHB. This research is valuable for government, policymakers, and executives of manufacturing companies to establish the appropriate strategies for employees and provide a sustainable environment. This research also offers new visions to managers to know the current events and predict the possible causes that lead to the KHB and what is the possible strategies to eliminate this kind of behavior.

Schoolchildren’s Competitiveness and Hubristic Motivation: the Dimensions and Assesment Posibilities

Synopsis: According to results of theoretical analysis it was found that two competitive strategies are distinguished in children: interpersonal competitiveness and goal competitiveness. Interpersonal competitiveness (other-referenced competition) is considered as the striving to have better achievements than others and to win in interpersonal situations (games and activity) and to eSynopsis: According to results of theoretical analysis it was found that two competitive strategies are distinguished in children: interpersonal competitiveness and goal competitiveness. Interpersonal cnjoy the interpersonal competition and refers to hubristic striving for superiority. Goal competitiveness (task-oriented competition) is considered as the striving for excellence, goal achievement, and do one’s best and refers to hubristic striving for excellence and perfection. A Schoolchildren Competition Questionnaire was adapted. It consists of 17 items and characterized bi high rates of reliability and validity and describes three dimensions: 1) Other-referenced competition; 2) Task-oriented competition and 3) Maintenance of dominance hierarchy. It was revealed competitive strategies are connected with hubristic motivation in primary schoolchildren. Other-referenced competition characterizes schoolchildren with “Expressed dominance of pursuit for superiority”. The lowest level of is determined in children with “Low Hubristic Motivation”. The highest level of task-oriented competition characterizes schoolchildren with “Expressed Dominance of the pursuit of Excellence”. The lowest level of other-referenced competition and task-oriented competition is determined in children with “Low Hubristic Motivation”. Maintenance of dominance hierarchy characterizes schoolchildren with “Balanced Hubristic Motives”. The lowest level of maintenance of dominance is determined in children with “Moderate Dominance of the pursuit of Superiority”.

Age-related differences in strategic competition

Understanding how people of different ages decide in competition is a question of theoretical and practical importance. Using an experimental laboratory approach, this research investigates the ability of younger and older adults to think and act strategically with equal or unequal resources. In zero-sum games of resource allocation, younger adults (19–35 years) and older adults (65–81 years) made strategic decisions in competition against opponents of a similar age (Study 1; N = 120) or different age (Study 2; N = 120). The findings highlight people’s ability to make good interpersonal decisions in complex scenarios: Both younger and older adults were aware of their relative strength (in terms of material resources) and allocated their resources adaptively. When competing against opponents of a similar age, people’s gains were in line with game-theoretic predictions. However, younger adults made superior strategic allocations and won more frequently when competing against older adults. Measures of fluid cognitive and numerical abilities correlated with strategic behavior in interpersonal competition.

Mortality threat mitigates interpersonal competition: an EEG-based hyperscanning study.

Awareness of death has been shown to influence human cognition and behavior. Yet, how mortality threat (MT) impacts our daily social behavior remains elusive. To address this issue, we developed a dyadic experimental model and recruited 86 adults (43 dyads) to complete two computer-based tasks (i.e. competitive and cooperative button-pressing). We manipulated dyads’ awareness of death [MT vs neutral control (NC)] and simultaneously measured their neurophysiological activity using electroencephalography during the task. Several fundamental observations were made. First, the MT group showed significantly attenuated competition and slightly promoted cooperation. Second, compared to NC, MT significantly decreased gamma-band inter-brain synchronization (IBS) in the competitive context, which was associated with increased subjective fear of death within dyads. Notably, those effects were context-specific: we did not observe comparable results in the cooperative context. Finally, a machine-learning approach was successfully used to discriminate between the MT and NC groups based on accumulated IBS. Together, these findings indicate that MT to some extent mitigates interpersonal competition, and such mitigation might be associated with changes in gamma-band IBS.

Machiavellianism and Elicitation of Self-Disclosure in a Competitive Friendship

The present study investigated the influence of Machiavellianism and friendship competition on the elicitation of self-disclosure from others within friendship dyads. Male (N = 120) and female (N = 70) participants aged 17 to 60 years (M = 29.15, SD = 12.26) completed a questionnaire containing preliminary demographic questions, Mach IV Scale, Opener Scale and Interpersonal Competition Index. The regression analysis has revealed that Machiavellianism and friendship competition are reliable predictors of the ability to elicit self-disclosure from others, and these results coincide with those of correlation analysis. This study represents the very first attempt to investigate the Machiavellian personality correlates associated with the tendency to elicit self-disclosure from others, and its findings may help shed light upon the direction of future research.

When Interpersonal Competition Helps and When It Harms: An Integration via Challenge and Threat

Interpersonal competition is ubiquitous in organizations and is studied across a variety of disciplines. However, these literatures have developed in parallel with little integration, stunting scholarly progress and leaving researchers and practitioners uncertain as to whether competition within organizations is beneficial versus harmful. This review attempts to resolve these issues. First, we define interpersonal competition as existing when an individual desires, and directs behavior toward, attaining relative superiority over other(s) on a particular dimension. Second, we review the empirical research on the consequences of interpersonal competition, focusing on the factors that determine when interpersonal competition is helpful versus harmful for individual and interpersonal outcomes in organizations, while highlighting the common mechanisms that appear to underlie these factors. This prior work suggests when competition is appraised as a challenge, its downsides are mitigated and its benefits are most evident. Conversely, when competition is appraised as a threat, its downsides become most evident. We hope this review provides an entry point for scholars interested in interpersonal competition and a more parsimonious account of its consequences.

Interpersonal competition in organization: an investigation of antecedents

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the antecedents of the competitive pressure felt by individuals in organizations.Design/methodology/approachThe data for this study are obtained from workers from multiple firms in various industries.FindingsThe results indicate that employees have a strong feeling of competitive anxiety and a sense of rivalry when their tasks are interdependent to one another, when they have a competition-oriented personality and when the relative evaluation scale is used for performance appraisal. The perceived proportion of performance pay only increased the sense of rivalry, while it did not increase the competitive anxiety. Also, intrinsic motivation and transformational leadership help mitigate both competitive anxiety and sense of rivalry.Practical implicationsThe author recommends that managers utilize these factors to maintain an appropriate level of competition depending on their organizations' needs.Originality/valueThe original value of this study lies in its attempt to examine how competitive mindset is developed among interpersonal relationships in organizations.

Особенности произвольной саморегуляции и личностных качеств курсантов-первокурсников, имеющих опыт прохождения службы в рядах вооруженных сил

The present research featured the problem of developing a cadet's personality during the adaptation to military institutions of higher education. Two groups of first-year cadets with different military experience underwent a comparative analysis. The research subject was the process of formation of arbitrary self-regulation in a first-year cadet. The research objective was to identify the features of the formation of voluntary self-regulation and personal qualities in cadets with and without military experience during the period of adaptation at a military institution of higher education. The first-year cadets with experience in military service proved to have higher parameters of self-regulation and personal qualities than the cadets without army experience. The main trend in interpersonal relations appeared to be the desire for dominance, which allowed the cadets to satisfy their needs and interests in the conditions of interpersonal competition. The article also introduces the phenomenon of spontaneous formation of voluntary self-regulation in cadet during the adaptation period, which cannot improve the low level of development of the regulatory and personal quality of "independence".

Positive Youth Development through a Co-Designed Modified Boxing Program

A modified boxing program in which youth and adults participated together ran for almost five years at an Australian community youth club. It was initially focused on preparing participants for occasional modified boxing competitions in which impacts to the head and neck were prohibited and any forceful impacts were penalized. The Head Coach of the program initiated regular small-group and individual discussions with participants and used the outcomes to guide program iteration. The participants became co-designers of the program and therefore architects of their own sport experience. This led to substantial changes in the nature of the program, with interpersonal competition progressively de-emphasized and eventually almost entirely removed. Increased attention was directed to building a cohesive, inclusive community and engaging in cooperative endeavours that provided a shared sense of purpose. Natural adult mentors emerged, and some adolescents took on peer leadership roles. Through a partnership between the club and a local university, program participants became involved in diverse research activities aimed at program improvement. Young program participants began to anecdotally report obtaining broad-ranging benefits from the program, and these reports were subjectively corroborated by parents and natural mentors. To determine the nature of any such benefits, we examined records of discussions that the Head Coach had logged in a detailed journal over the course of the program. We targeted a purposeful sample that included six young program participants and twelve adults who had varying program connections. Thematic analysis performed on the records of discussions with the selected subjects revealed that the most common perceived benefits that young people derived from the program were increased determination, increased self-confidence and enhanced leadership skills. Specific program features most clearly associated with these outcomes were fostering of positive and supportive relationships, collaborative involvement of the young people in determining program directions and provision of opportunities for positive observational learning. These findings are consistent with published literature and contemporary theories on positive youth development. Although positive youth development was not the explicit objective of the modified boxing program, the establishment of functional youth-adult partnerships and co-design procedures in the program environment caused the program to take on characteristics that research has identified as critical to attainment of positive youth development outcomes.

Feeling Like an Imposter: The Effect of Perceived Classroom Competition on the Daily Psychological Experiences of First-Generation College Students

Many college students intend to pursue science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers but quickly abandon these goals when confronted with notoriously competitive STEM courses that often pit students against each other. This emphasis on interpersonal competition could be especially detrimental for first-generation (FG) college students, an underrepresented group in STEM fields which more strongly values communality and collaboration relative to their continuing-generation peers. Thus, FG students may experience more imposter feelings in STEM courses perceived as having a competitive culture. A longitudinal study (with 818 students and 2,638 experience-sampling observations) found that perceived classroom competition was associated with greater daily in-class imposter feelings among all students—but especially among FG students. Imposter feelings in turn predicted students’ end-of-term course engagement, attendance, dropout intentions, and course grades. Classroom competition and the imposter feelings it engenders may be an overlooked barrier for promoting the engagement, performance, and retention of FG students in STEM.

Social context effects on error-related brain activity are dependent on interpersonal and achievement-related traits

Brain correlates of performance monitoring, such as the Error-Related Negativity (ERN), are considerably influenced by situational factors. For instance, errors committed during social interaction typically elicit enhanced ERNs. While individual differences in ERN magnitude have been implicated in a wide variety of psychopathologies, it remains unclear how individual dispositions may interact with situational incentives to influence performance monitoring. Here, we analysed how interpersonal (Affiliation) and achievement-related (Agency) traits moderated the effects of interpersonal competition and interpersonal cooperation on the ERN. For this purpose, electroencephalography was collected from 78 participants while they performed a Flanker Task either in a competitive or in a cooperative social context (i.e., between-subjects design). We found that competition predicted enhanced error-related activity patterns compared to cooperation. Furthermore, participants who scored high in Affiliation elicited enhanced error-related activity. Conversely, high Agency scores were associated with reduced error-related activity, but this was only observed in the competitive context. These results indicate that the brain’s response to error commission is not only sensitive to social incentives. Rather, the activity of the evaluative system that produces error signals appears to be crucially determined by the personal relevance of the incentives present in the context in which performance is evaluated.