Topic 6- Cooperation and Competition PDF

Preview

Summary

Lecture notes...

Description

Competition and Cooperation Defined 



Competition: A social process that occurs when rewards are given to people for how their performance compares with the performances of others during the same task or when participating in the same event o Actively involved Cooperation: A social process through which performance is evaluated and rewarded in terms of the collective achievement of a group of people working together to reach a particular goal o How did we do as a team?

The competition Process 

 



Stage 1: An objective competitive situation is a situation in which performance is compared with some standard of excellence in the presence of at least one other person who is aware of the comparison o Ego oriented, task oriented, trait anxiety Stage 2: The subjective competitive situation is how the person perceives, accepts, and appraises the objective competitive situation (influenced by personality factors such as competitiveness) Stage 3: Response is whether a person approaches or avoids an objective competitive situation (at the behavioral, physiological, and psychological levels) o Ex. not allowing to cheat o If decision is not complete, then the response stops there (emotional response, psychological response- fear, negative thinking, etc.) Stage 4: Consequences is whether a person approaches or avoids an objective competitive situation (at the behavioral, physiological, and psychological levels) o Results from comparing with standard of comparison



o o

Usually seen as either positive or negative- positive consequences with failure > negative consequences with failure Athlete’s perception of the consequences is more important than the objective outcome Feeling of success and failure do not occur in isolation; they feed back into the process and affect subsequent competitive events

Psychological studies of competition and cooperation  

Triplett’s cyclists: Cyclists were faster in competition than alone racing against the clock Deutsch’s puzzles: Competition -group students were self -centered, directed efforts at beating others, had closed communication, and exhibited group conflict and distrust; cooperation -group students communicated openly, shared information, developed friendships, and solved more puzzles

Implications   



Cooperation increases group harmony & productivity Coaching Perspective? o Individual versus team sports Speed Skating Example: o Cooperation – helped each other train to their best and accomplish personal goals that reflect well on the team/club/country *help each other get better (both get equal scores)

Psychological studies of competition and aggression     

Competition is not good or bad; it is neutral Whether it leads to aggression or cooperation depends on the social environment and the way the performers view competition Cooperation as opposed to competition produces superior performance, although results may depend on the nature of the task Competition can serve as a positive source of motivation to improve and refine skills Subjective competition can change

Psychological studies on experimental games  

Prisoner’s dilemma: Competitors draw cooperators into competition Sherif and Sherif (1969) summer camp studies: o Competition can be reduced through cooperative efforts to achieve superordinate goals o When task requires you to work together in order to complete task

Psychological studies on competitive sport and success in life   

Athletes in educational programs have higher educational aspirations than nonathletes Athletes have no more or less career success than nonathletes Athletes are no more or less deviant than nonathletes

Is Competition Good or Bad? 





Is competition good or bad? –neither inherently good nor bad o neither productive nor destructive o it is a neutral process; the environment determines its effects to a great degree When is competition good? –motivates people, entertainment, display of skill, teaches you to work hard for the things that you want, teaches you how to lose, can create unity/ working together, it is fun and enjoyable (we enjoy competing and we enjoy winning) When is competition bad? –can lead to aggression in certain circumstances, if it increases arousal and then decreases performance, if you are doing it for someone else, if you continually lose it can reduce your self-esteem, can be dangerous (can hurt yourself), can lead people to depend on drugs,

Competition and Cooperation as Complementary Concepts   

competition and cooperation are not polar opposites the dynamic of how competition and cooperation complement one another should be taught (to athletes at ALL levels) top performers employ a blend of competition and cooperation strategies

Attributes Related to Both Competition and Cooperation       

A sense of mission Strong work ethic (the amount of effort you put into something. Effort and quality) Use of resources A strong preparation ethic (what you do before the competition. Have I done everything I can possibly to do to make me better?) A love of challenge and change that happens through the process of either competing or cooperating. Great teamwork (working together with others, or the idea of working as a group against others) these 6 attributes are found in both competition and cooperation.

Enhancing Cooperation: Component Structure of Games  

  

Competitive means-competitive ends (eg winning): o eg. King of the Mountain, 100-yard dash Cooperative (with your team. And with the other team eg. Following the rules of the game) means- competitive ends: o eg. Soccer, basketball Individual means - individual ends (what I do is relevant to me and to me alone): o eg. Calisthenics (exercise), cross-country skiing, other individual sports Cooperative means-individual ends: o eg. Helping each other individually improve eg. speed skating, a study group Cooperative means-cooperative ends: o -eg. Keeping a volleyball from hitting ground for as long as possible

Enhancing Cooperation: Cooperative Games

  

Cooperative games emphasize both cooperative means and cooperative ends Cooperation can be taught through cooperative games Cooperative games can be devised by changing the rules of transitional games o eg. pass the soccer ball 4 times before you take a shot at net.

Enhancing Cooperation: General Principles of Cooperative Games      

Maximize participation (eg. less standing around. Such as have two curlers practice at one end of sheet, and two curlers practice at other end of sheet at the same time) Maximize opportunities to learn sport and movement skills Do not keep score (take competitive ends out of the equation. And allow for something else take place) Maximize opportunities for success (when you have more opportunities for success you gain confidence) Give positive feedback Provide opportunities for youngsters to play different positions

Guidelines for Balancing Competition and Cooperation     

 

Blend competition and cooperation when teaching and coaching physical skills (usually when they are new skills) Individualize instruction to meet each person’s needs Structure games for children to include both competitive and cooperative elements When competition leads to fierce rivalry, use superordinate goals to get the groups together and to a more cooperative place Provide positive feedback and encouragement to students and athletes regardless of the outcomes of the competition (even in a competitive ends competition, you can give feedback and what you encourage can be more important than the actual score) Stress cooperation to produce trust and open communication Provide opportunities for both the learning of sport skills and the practice of these skills in competition...