Does Competition Enhance or Inhibit Motor Performance: A Meta-Analysis

A meta-analysis was conducted on the relative impact of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic efforts on motor skills performance. Competition was divided into 3 groups: zero sum, appropriate, and unclear. The motor skills tasks were divided into means-interdependent and means-independent ta...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychological bulletin 1999-01, Vol.125 (1), p.133-154
Main Authors: Stanne, Mary Beth, Johnson, David W, Johnson, Roger T
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Achievement
Biological and medical sciences
Co-operation
Cognition
Competition
Competitive Behavior
Cooperation
Cooperative Behavior
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human
Humans
Individualism
Individuality
Inhibition (Psychology)
Interpersonal relations
Meta-analysis
Motor ability
Motor Performance
Motor Skills
Personality traits
Personality. Affectivity
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Relationship
Self Concept
Self-esteem
Systematic review
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Summary:A meta-analysis was conducted on the relative impact of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic efforts on motor skills performance. Competition was divided into 3 groups: zero sum, appropriate, and unclear. The motor skills tasks were divided into means-interdependent and means-independent tasks. The dependent variables were achievement-performance, interpersonal attraction, social support, and self-esteem. A total of 64 studies met the criteria for inclusion. Effects sizes were computed, and confidence intervals were used to determine their significance. A fail-safe sample size was computed to determine how many additional studies were needed to change the significance of the results. Cooperation resulted in higher achievement for means-interdependent tasks in zero-sum competition, unclear competition, and individualistic efforts, and it promoted higher achievement for means-independent tasks for unclear competition and individualistic efforts. For all comparisons, cooperation resulted in greater interpersonal attraction, social support, and self-esteem.
ISSN:0033-2909
1939-1455
DOI:10.1037/0033-2909.125.1.133