The influence of competition and performance goals on decoding complex emotions
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ORIGINAL PAPER
The influence of competition and performance goals on decoding complex emotions Steven G. Young1 · Andrew J. Elliot2
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The present research examines the processes through which competitive contexts influence performance in an understudied domain: social perception. In two experiments (one preregistered), we test how competition (relative to control) influences performance on a measure of emotion decoding: The Reading-the-mind-in-the-Eyes (RME) task. Specifically, we examine whether performance-approach (PAP) and performance-avoidance (PAV) goals (as well as mastery-approach [MAP] and mastery-avoidance [MAV] goals) affect the competition-performance relation in this domain. The results indicate no direct effect of competition on RME performance, but that competition promotes the pursuit of both PAP and PAV goals. Moreover, we find that both PAP and PAV goals are positively related to RME performance in a competitive, but not control, context. Mediational analyses indicate that PAP goals, in particular, are the process through which competition indirectly influences RME performance. These findings integrate several different heretofore separate literatures, and lay the foundation for exciting new work in this overlooked area. Keywords Competition · Social perception · Performance-approach · Performance-avoidance · Achievement goals
Competition, Performance Goals, and Social‑Emotional Competence Interpersonal competition is commonplace. In academic, business, and athletic contexts, people often compete with one another for valued outcomes, both material and social. Given its ubiquity, it is not surprising that the link between competition and psychological, biological, and behavioral outcomes is well-studied. For example, empirical work has documented relations between trait or induced competition and risk behavior, cardiovascular activity, testosterone levels, performance attainment, cheating behavior, substance abuse, intrinsic motivation, creativity, product innovation, job commitment, and so on (e.g., Hangen et al. 2016; Houston et al. 2015; Lochbaum and Gottardy 2015; Mehta et al. 2009; Ten Velden et al. 2009).
* Steven G. Young [email protected] 1
Baruch College and The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
University of Rochester, Rochester, USA
2
What is surprising is the dearth of research on the influence of competition on social perception. In interpersonal competition, one’s performance is compared to that of another person or persons to determine the relative outcome (Deutsch 1949; VandenBos 2015). As a result, acquiring information about one’s opponent is critical to success during competition, as this information can help calibrate one’s effort and tactics (e.g., Thagard 1992). Thus, it is likely that competition has important implications for our perception of others and, specifically, the identification of emotions. However, it is also critical to examine how
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