Psychology
Competition and the Effects on Interpersonal Interactions
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Location
Indianapolis, IN
Subject Area
Psychology
Start Date
11-4-2014 8:30 AM
End Date
11-4-2014 10:00 AM
Sponsor
Bobby Horton (Wabash College)
Description
This study investigates the effect of competition on interpersonal perceptions and long term interpersonal interactions. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: competitive, cooperative, or control. All participants were told that they were partnered with another student (fictitious), and they were given a short description of this partner. Those in the competitive condition were told they were competing against this partner to be entered into a drawing for a gift card. Those in the cooperative condition were told that their partner's score would be added to their own to try to reach a threshold to enter a raffle for the gift card. Those in the control condition were told they would be entered in a raffle at the conclusion of the study. After completing a set of intellectual tasks, all participants completed a short evaluation of their partner. At the end of day 1, participants wrote one-paragraph about their day. All participants returned two days later (in order to test for the long term effect of competition) and were asked to assess the quality of the writing piece ostensibly written by their partner. Participants were told that their writing piece was swapped with that of their partner. We expected that participants in the competition condition would regard the partner less favorably than other conditions on the day 1 and would grade their writing piece less favorably on day 2, indicating that competition has long-term effects on interpersonal judgment. Data collection for this study is currently ongoing.
Competition and the Effects on Interpersonal Interactions
Indianapolis, IN
This study investigates the effect of competition on interpersonal perceptions and long term interpersonal interactions. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: competitive, cooperative, or control. All participants were told that they were partnered with another student (fictitious), and they were given a short description of this partner. Those in the competitive condition were told they were competing against this partner to be entered into a drawing for a gift card. Those in the cooperative condition were told that their partner's score would be added to their own to try to reach a threshold to enter a raffle for the gift card. Those in the control condition were told they would be entered in a raffle at the conclusion of the study. After completing a set of intellectual tasks, all participants completed a short evaluation of their partner. At the end of day 1, participants wrote one-paragraph about their day. All participants returned two days later (in order to test for the long term effect of competition) and were asked to assess the quality of the writing piece ostensibly written by their partner. Participants were told that their writing piece was swapped with that of their partner. We expected that participants in the competition condition would regard the partner less favorably than other conditions on the day 1 and would grade their writing piece less favorably on day 2, indicating that competition has long-term effects on interpersonal judgment. Data collection for this study is currently ongoing.