The Motivation to Win Negative Aspects of Success at Competition

The purpose of this study was to investigate potential negative outcomes of succeeding under competitive conditions. Highly gifted young adolescents (N = 67) were asked to respond to a scenario in which a student was successful in either a competitive or a non-competitive, individualistic situation. Responses indicated that the subjects perceived greater continuing motivation, attribution of success to effort, and learning for the student in the individualistic scenario. It is concluded that a competitive goal structure may have negative effects even for students who consistently succeed within competition, effects which may be incompatible with important, long-range educational goals.