The Role of Competitiveness at Social Tasks: Can Indirect Cues Enhance Performance?

Abstract

Recent research has shown that competitiveness is related to performance. However, gaps remain in the literature on the effects of competitiveness on task performance across different performance settings. A review of relevant literature from sport, social, and personality psychology suggested that performance in several contexts—individual, coactive, and conjunctive task demands—would be affected both by trait interpersonal competitiveness and by competitiveness manipulated through subliminal priming. Both factors (task demands and competitiveness) were manipulated in a 2 × 3 experimental design and individual task effort was assessed. Results from the current investigation showed that such priming influenced effort at a coactive persistence task. Results also partially replicated past research on group motivation gains (Hertel, Kerr, & Messé, 1999; Köhler, 1926, 1927). Implications for group and individual performance in social, athletic, and work domains are discussed.

The third author on this paper, Lawrence A. Messé died on December 1, 2004. He will be missed by many. This paper is dedicated to his memory.

Notes

Only males participated in this study because a pilot study showed that it was more effective to prime competitiveness in males than females. Further research is currently being conducted to explore priming effects among females.

Copies of the computer program or detailed sets of experimental procedures can be obtained from the first author.

This ratio is based on Köhler's original studies (Köhler, 1926, 1927) and more recent work (Messé, et al., 2002) which has found that this approximate discrepancy between partners leads to a maximal motivation gain under conjunctive task demand conditions.

These fatigue corrections were determined within a repeated measures ANOVA on each arm across the four trials for those in the individual control condition.

Bivariate correlations were calculated between pre-test competitiveness scores (as measured by both the SOQ and its competitiveness subscale) and raw scores on the control trials (1 and 2). Results revealed low to moderate correlations ranging from .13 to .27. The only significant correlation was between the SOQ pretest scores and Trial 2 performance (r(120) = .27, p < .03).

A 3 (Task Demands) × 2 (Prime) ANOVA on fatigue corrected Trial 4 scores revealed a significant main effect of Task Demands (F(2, 114) = 6.82, p < .01) such that those in the conjunctive condition (M = 41.9s, s = 64.9) outlasted individual controls (M = 10.2s, s = 33.4, F(1, 114) = 8.44, p < .01). Coactors (M = 45.7s, s = 40.2) also outlasted individual controls (F(1, 114) = 11.75, p < .01). As in Trial 3, those in the conjunctive and coactive conditions did not differ from one another (F < .3). The overall priming effect in Trial 4 did not reach statistical significance (F(1, 114) = 1.92, ns).