Lecture 15: Competition and Motivation Flashcards
effect of competition on intrinsic motivation
- Competition usually has negative impacts on intrinsic motivation
- But, it depends on the situation
4-year-olds in hockey video
4-year-olds in organized hockey already show a hint of competition
Koestner’s basketball experience
- Koestner played organized basketball and his basketball career ended when he was 18
- He lost his intrinsic motivation for playing basketball when he missed 9/10 shots playing at Madison Square Garden and was removed from the game by his coach
Koestner’s brother’s basketball experience
- Koestner’s brother played informal basketball until he was 62
- He maintained his intrinsic motivation
commitment
desire and resolve to continue sports participation
5 factors of Scanlon’s model of sports commitment
- sports enjoyment
- involvement opportunities
- personal investments
- involvement alternatives
- social constraints
sports enjoyment
- Sports can be a highly enjoyable activity that makes kids feel competent
- A positive thing
involvement opportunities
- Sports can provide opportunities to meet new people, make friends, and get involved in your community
- A positive thing
personal investments
- The more you’ve invested, the more likely you are to stick with it
- You start to feel like you have to stay with it because of how much you’ve invested in it
- A neutral thing
involvement alternatives
- What other activities you be doing
- A negative thing
social constraints
- Parents, coaches, and teammates can undermine sports commitment if they put too much pressure on a child
- A negative thing
Koestner’s criticism of Scanlon’s model
this model misses competition, which is one of the most important factors in determining sports commitment
ballet competition videos
- The National Ballet School has children move to Winnipeg or Toronto without their families to pursue ballet
- The competition doesn’t end when you get into the school; there’s competition for a better teacher, part, etc.
- Competition is highly salient for the dancers
- One of the teachers said: “We’re kidding ourselves if we pretend that competition isn’t part of our day-to-day life”
1981 Deci study method
- Used the free-choice paradigm
- Had people do a puzzle task either while competing against others, or with no competition
- The confederate would always let the participant solve the puzzle quicker
- Then, there were three separate puzzles, where people were either told to do their best or compete against the other person
- Next, the participant was left for 8 minutes while the experimenter “interviewed” the confederate.
- They were allowed to either read magazines or continue working on the puzzles
1981 Deci study findings
the people who were told that it was a competition, spent half as much time on the puzzles (half as much intrinsic motivation)
why do basketball players report enjoying basketball?
- Competition/measuring self vs. others
- Development of personal skills
- Friendships
- The activity itself
- Enjoyment of experience/use of skills
- Measuring self against own ideals
- Prestige/glamour/rewards
- Emotional release
Reeve & Deci, 1996 study method
- Examined whether competition can sometimes decrease and sometimes increase intrinsic motivation
- Used the free-choice paradigm
- Depending on their condition, participants were reminded before each trial to solve their puzzles faster OR focus all their attention on being the winner
Reeve & Deci, 1996 study conditions
- Controlling/win
- Non-Controlling/win
- Non-Controlling/lose
Reeve & Deci, 1996 non-controlling competition condition
“Try to outperform the other person by solving the puzzles faster”
Reeve & Deci, 1996 controlling competition condition
“It doesn’t matter how fast or slow you solve each puzzle, or whether you figure out how the puzzle works, the only thing that matters is that you win the competition. So focus all of your attention on being the winner.”
Reeve & Deci, 1996 study results
- People only had high intrinsic motivation when it was non-controlled and they won
- The level of intrinsic motivation if you win in a controlled situation is the same as if you lose in a non-controlled situation
Reeve & Deci, 1996 study controlled/lose condition
- The researchers weren’t allowed to conduct a controlled/lose condition
- The ethics board felt it would be too emotionally upsetting for participants
Chalip 1985 on informal sports
informal sports settings appeared to provide a better balance between challenges and abilities, and therefore increased enjoyment
Reeve and Deci’s conclusion
“The results suggest that winning a competition may not undermine intrinsic motivation if there is no undue pressure to win. Unfortunately, it seems that the unyielding focus on winning in our society, whether in sports or school, may be creating a pressuring context that can have quite negative effects on individuals’ experience and motivation.”
Chipmunk story
the Chipmunk team, an 8-year-old girls soccer team, won the game at the last minute and the whole team was happy except for the two girls on the bench, who were crying. One of the girls on the bench was the coach’s daughter.
Chipmunk story takeaway
You can take the most thoughtful person in the world and if you subject them to intense competition, people will start acting in a highly controlling and competitive way
danger of competition in hockey
Competition in hockey can result in yelling, swearing, and threats directed at officials or other players
vallerand and losie, 1994 competition and sportsmanship study method
- Presented Quebec midget AAA hockey players with scenarios that varied on their emphasis on competition and intrinsic motivation at the beginning and end of the hockey season
- They also measured players’ sportsmanship beliefs
vallerand and losie, 1994 competition and sportsmanship study findings
Found that competitive motivation at the beginning of the season significantly predicts reduced sportsmanship
competition can result in:
- Competitive ethics and poor sportsmanship
- Acceptance of cheating
- Doping
- Post-competition aggression
doping
- Every country has had an incident of doping
- Lance Armstrong, a cancer survivor, was found to have been doping throughout his career
- Seoul 1988: the 100 m dash was considered the “dirtiest race in history”: 6/8 runners were found doping
do we need to teach kids competitive skills?
- No, we don’t need to teach kids to be competitive
- We need to teach them how to be cooperative and work with others
should we encourage organized sports?
- Organized sports can be dangerous
- Instead, we should encourage informal sports
competition in other contexts
competition also takes place in the context of other important roles. such as a friend, romantic partner, or parent
21st-century job market
Growth in the 21st-century job market is in social skills, particularly the intersection of social skills and math skills
David Demming, 2015 on the modern work world
Preschool classrooms look a lot like the modern work world. Children move from art projects to science experiments to the playground in small groups, and their most important skills are sharing and negotiating with others
