When individual goal pursuit turns competitive: How we sabotage and coast
People working toward individual goals often find themselves surrounded by others who are pursuing similar goals, such as at school, in fitness classes, and through goal-oriented network devices like Fitbit. This research explores when these individual goal pursuits can turn into competitions, why i...
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2019
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sg-smu-ink.lkcsb_research-75352020-03-19T07:39:33Z When individual goal pursuit turns competitive: How we sabotage and coast HUANG, Szu-chi LIN, Stephanie C. ZHANG, Ying People working toward individual goals often find themselves surrounded by others who are pursuing similar goals, such as at school, in fitness classes, and through goal-oriented network devices like Fitbit. This research explores when these individual goal pursuits can turn into competitions, why it happens, and the downstream consequences of this pseudo-competition on goal pursuers. We found that people were more likely to treat their goal pursuit as a competition when they were near the end (vs. at the beginning) of their individual goal and thus prioritized relative positional gain (i.e., performing better than others sharing similar pursuits) over making objective progress on their own goal, sabotaging others when they had the opportunity to do so (Studies 1–3B). Further, we provided evidence that certainty of goal attainment at a high (vs. low) level of progress drove this shift in focus, leading to such sabotage behaviors (Studies 3A, 3B). Ironically, success in gaining an upper hand against others in these pseudo-competitions led individuals to subsequently reduce their effort in their own pursuits (Studies 1–5). Six experiments captured a variety of competitive behaviors across different goal domains (selecting games that diminished others’ prospects, selecting difficult questions for fellow students). 2019-09-01T07:00:00Z text application/pdf https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/6536 info:doi/10.1037/pspi0000170 https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/7535/viewcontent/sabotage_and_coast_jpsp_publish_1.pdf http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business eng Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University Competition Goal pursuit Sabotage Self-regulation Social comparison Marketing Organizational Behavior and Theory |
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Competition Goal pursuit Sabotage Self-regulation Social comparison Marketing Organizational Behavior and Theory HUANG, Szu-chi LIN, Stephanie C. ZHANG, Ying When individual goal pursuit turns competitive: How we sabotage and coast |
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People working toward individual goals often find themselves surrounded by others who are pursuing similar goals, such as at school, in fitness classes, and through goal-oriented network devices like Fitbit. This research explores when these individual goal pursuits can turn into competitions, why it happens, and the downstream consequences of this pseudo-competition on goal pursuers. We found that people were more likely to treat their goal pursuit as a competition when they were near the end (vs. at the beginning) of their individual goal and thus prioritized relative positional gain (i.e., performing better than others sharing similar pursuits) over making objective progress on their own goal, sabotaging others when they had the opportunity to do so (Studies 1–3B). Further, we provided evidence that certainty of goal attainment at a high (vs. low) level of progress drove this shift in focus, leading to such sabotage behaviors (Studies 3A, 3B). Ironically, success in gaining an upper hand against others in these pseudo-competitions led individuals to subsequently reduce their effort in their own pursuits (Studies 1–5). Six experiments captured a variety of competitive behaviors across different goal domains (selecting games that diminished others’ prospects, selecting difficult questions for fellow students). |
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HUANG, Szu-chi LIN, Stephanie C. ZHANG, Ying |
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HUANG, Szu-chi LIN, Stephanie C. ZHANG, Ying |
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HUANG, Szu-chi |
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When individual goal pursuit turns competitive: How we sabotage and coast |
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When individual goal pursuit turns competitive: How we sabotage and coast |
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When individual goal pursuit turns competitive: How we sabotage and coast |
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When individual goal pursuit turns competitive: How we sabotage and coast |
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When individual goal pursuit turns competitive: How we sabotage and coast |
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when individual goal pursuit turns competitive: how we sabotage and coast |
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Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University |
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2019 |
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https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/6536 https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/7535/viewcontent/sabotage_and_coast_jpsp_publish_1.pdf |
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