SOCIAL COMPETITION - IDENTIFYING NEW PERSPECTIVES AND STRATEGIES FOR TASK MOTIVATION

Competition is a prominent topic of discussion among academics and pra ctitioners; yet the relevant literatures in management and psychology lack a consistent definition to describe this phenomenon. Consequently , much of the mixed results concerning competition's impact on attitud es and performance might be due to conceptual differences about the co nstruct A survey administered in a laboratory setting demonstrated ind ividuals perceive different types of competition, and these different types had different impacts on attitudes and behavior. One type of com petition identified here, the opportunity for informal competition, dr aws from a vast literature in social psychology-using social compariso ns to evaluate performance. These results support broadening the defin ition of competition and expanding future research investigation effor ts. Informal social competition can potentially benefit efforts to eff ectively direct and enhance motivation.