Sm. Sommer, SOCIAL COMPETITION - IDENTIFYING NEW PERSPECTIVES AND STRATEGIES FOR TASK MOTIVATION, The International journal of conflict management, 6(3), 1995, pp. 239-256
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.