Quote of the Day

"Competition Breeds Success" 

 I have heard this quote numerous times throughout my life.  Many people will claim that this quote is true because it pushes people to work harder, faster, smarter, and longer than others in order beat the competition.  Knowing that there are others out there working just as hard or harder than you can be motivating.  However, I have often wondered "does competition really breed success?"  Here are some reasons why competition may be counterproductive to success according to Ormrod, 2012.

1. Low Self-Efficacy:  In competition there is a clear winner and a clear loser.  Losing a competition can destroy a person's confidence simple because they lost, even if their product/performance was of high quality.  
2. Cheating:  Losing can make people insecure in their ability and tempt them to cheat in order to compete with the competition.  There is evidence of cheating in every aspect of our society today. 
3. Performance Goals vs Mastery Goals:  We have a high need of acceptance.  So, we will protect our image by striving to look good in front of others.  This results in setting goals to make a good impression (performance goals) rather than setting goals to master a skill (mastery goals).  Mastery goals will produce better results in the long run.  

Competition is undoubtable a good thing.  However, I feel we need to be more cautious when attributing success to competition.  Success is not achieved through competition alone and often times creates low self-efficacy, false success (cheating), and poor motivators (performance goals).