تاثیر رقابت در انگیزش درونی و خلاقیت: در نظر گرفتن جنس، تفکیک جنسیتی و جهت گیری نقش های جنسیتی

The present research investigated whether competition influences children's artistic creativity and intrinsic motivation toward an art activity. Study 1 tested the hypothesis that boys' creativity would be enhanced by competition, while girls' creativity would be undermined. Fifty children (aged 6–10) made paper collages in one of two conditions; half competed for prizes and half did not. Results supported our hypotheses, and further showed that when children self-segregated by gender, the impact of competition was much more pronounced. Study 2 was designed to clarify the unexpected gender-segregation finding from Study 1. The Children's Sex Role Inventory [Boldizar, J.P. (1991). Assessing sex typing and androgyny in children: the Children's Sex Role Inventory. Developmental Psychology, 27, 505–515] was administered to 143 children (aged 6–11). One week later, these children made paper collages in one of four conditions; in addition to manipulating competition, assigned seating ensured that half of children were segregated by gender and half were not. Following the collage activity, an intrinsic and extrinsic motivation questionnaire was administered. Masculine children reported higher levels of intrinsic motivation when competing and when segregated by gender; they also reported higher levels of extrinsic motivation, especially when segregated by gender. These findings demonstrate that gender role is an important factor in determining children's responses to competition.

From science fairs to spelling bees, children's efforts are often propelled by the desire to win against others. The value of and potential problems with this emphasis on competition has been a frequent topic of psychological inquiry (Garza and Borchert, 1990, Johnson and Engelhard, 1992, Knight and Chao, 1989, McGlynn et al., 1982, Vallerand et al., 1986 and Weinberg and Ragan, 1979). Although children are easily engaged by nearly any activity posed as a competitive game, there is concern that their energy becomes too focused on winning at the cost of other motivating aspects of the activity (Kohn, 1985 and Nicholls, 1989). Because losers typically outnumber winners, competition may have negative motivational aftereffects, as well (Reeve and Deci, 1996 and Reeve et al., 1987). Amabile (1982a) was the first to propose that competition can have a negative impact on creativity. In an initial study to investigate this idea, 21 girls, aged 7–11, made paper collages at one of two “parties.” At one party, prizes were awarded for the three best collages, at the other they were raffled off. Artists later rated collages for creativity. Those collages produced by girls who were at the party where prizes were awarded were found to be significantly less creative than those produced by girls at the party where prizes were raffled off (Amabile). This study, now a classic, is often cited as evidence for the damaging effects of competition (Deci and Ryan, 1985, Kohn, 1985 and Nicholls, 1989). In addition, these findings were the first to provide support for a more general notion: Amabile's intrinsic motivation hypothesis of creativity. This hypothesis, which now has considerable empirical support, states that intrinsic motivation (derived from enjoyment inherent in a task) is conducive to creativity, while extrinsic motivation (fueled by a goal separate from the task) is detrimental (Amabile, 1979, Amabile, 1983, Amabile, 1993, Amabile, 1996, Amabile and Gitomer, 1984, Amabile et al., 1986 and Ruscio et al., 1998). The intrinsic motivation hypothesis is consistent with a large body of research showing that extrinsic motivators can have negative impact on later intrinsic motivation and qualitative aspects of performance (Deci, 1975, Deci et al., 1999, Deci and Ryan, 1985, Lepper et al., 1973 and McGraw, 1978). Competition also has been found to undermine intrinsic interest (Deci et al., 1981 and Vallerand et al., 1986). Recent theoretical accounts, however, propose that the impact of extrinsic motivators on intrinsic motivation and creativity can vary depending on how the extrinsic motivator is interpreted (Amabile, 1983, Amabile, 1996, Epstein and Harackiewicz, 1992, Kohn, 1996, Lepper et al., 1996 and Ryan and Deci, 1996). In addition, empirical studies have sometimes shown positive effects of competition (Weinberg and Ragan, 1979 and McGlynn et al., 1982). Extrinsic incentives may actually boost intrinsic motivation and creativity when they provide positive competence information or when they make the task more interesting or challenging (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975 and Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). It seems that the negative effects of extrinsic incentives appear when they are perceived as constraining, controlling, or when they are accompanied by negative competence information (Deci et al., 1999, Deci and Ryan, 1985 and Shalley and Oldham, 1997). While most studies have not found gender differences in responses to extrinsic incentives, there are exceptions (Koestner, Zuckerman, & Koestner, 1989). Deci and Ryan (1985) suggested that because of traditional sex role socialization practices, men and boys may be more likely to feel challenged by extrinsic pressure, while women and girls may be more likely to feel controlled. There is reason to believe that this is especially true when the extrinsic incentive is competition. Research has consistently shown that boys tend to be more competitive and to feel more comfortable in competitive situations than girls (Croxton et al., 1987, Geary, 1998 and Gill, 1986). Given the choice between cooperative and competitive activities, girls choose cooperation more often than boys do (Garza and Borchert, 1990, Johnson and Engelhard, 1992 and Knight and Chao, 1989). Although, much of the research on responses to competition has focused on athletic activities, these gender specific orientations seem to generalize to other activities as well. For example, themes of competitiveness are more common in the artwork of boys than of girls (Rubenstein, Feldman, Rubin, & Noveck, 1987). This gender difference in children's orientation toward competition may have important implications for their responses to it. Pallak, Costomiris, Sroka, and Pittman (1982) demonstrated that when children are accustomed to a particular type of performance feedback, they tend to respond more favorably to it and display heightened levels of intrinsic motivation. Girls and boys may also have different expectancies for winning versus losing. The outcome of a competitive situation has important implications for its motivational impact (Reeve et al., 1987), and there is evidence suggesting that boys may have more positive expectancies (Corbin, 1981 and Hall, 1990). A review of the literature by Weisfeld (1986) shows that when competition is made salient, girls and women are more likely to show decreases in performance than boys and men. These differential modes of responding are consistent with boys' and girls' sex-typed modes of interaction. Men are thought to be more independent, competitive and aggressive, while women are thought to be helpful, gentle and understanding (Eagly et al., 1991 and Williams and Bennett, 1975). If children are adhering to these cultural stereotypes, we would expect boys to respond with enthusiasm to a competitive situation, and girls to respond