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Differences in competitive orientations were examined in relation to two components of the Type A behavior pattern, Achievement Strivings and Impatience-Irritability, that have differential implications for achievement performance and health. As expected, hypercompetitiveness was not related to Achievement Strivings, but positively correlated with Impatience-Irritability. In contrast, personal development competitiveness related positively to Achievement Strivings, but was not related to Impatience-Irritability. Hypercompetitiveness was not related to actual academic achievement either, but personal development competitiveness was positively correlated. Hypercompetitiveness was associated with greater self-reported health problems, whereas personal development competitiveness was associated with fewer health problems. Results further corroborate the discriminant validity of the hypercompetitive and personal development competitive construct and suggest negative psychosomatic implications for the hypercompetitive individual.
Thornton et al. (Sat,) studied this question.