In The Oxford Handbook of the Psychology of Competition, Stephen M. Garcia, Avishalom Tor, and Andrew J. Elliot review and organize the literature on the psychology of competition and bring together leading researchers studying competition across the field of psychology. The first section on Biological Approaches reviews findings on competition from the subfields of psychobiology, neuroscience, psycho-endocrinology, and evolutionary psychology. The section on Motivational and Emotional Approaches examines the opposing motivational forces in competition and describes how competitive motivation is influenced by goals, competitive arousal, and envy. Cognitive and Decision-Making Approaches showcases relevant findings from the literature on judgment and decision making, social dilemmas, cognitive biases, and risk-taking. The section on Social-Personality and Organizational Approaches includes chapters on trait competitiveness, gender differences in competition, rivalry, status competition, and social comparison. The volume concludes with a section in which the psychological study of competition is focused on specific contexts, such as sports, education, and culture. The Oxford Handbook of the Psychology of Competition is a crucial interdisciplinary investigation into the variety of perspectives and approaches to the psychology of competition, facilitating new research and integration in the field.
I. INTRODUCTION 1. What is the Psychology of Competition? Stephen Garcia, Avishalom Tor, and Andrew Elliot 2. Competition in Psychology and Experimental Economics Yoella Bereby-Meyer, Uriel Haran, and Roi Zultan II. BIOLOGICAL APPROACHES 3. Examination of the potential functional role of competition-induced testosterone dynamics Justin Carré, Brittney Robinson, and Tracy-Lynn Reside 4. Biological Sex Differences and Competition. This chapter will explore the biological bases of sex differences and their impact on competition. Alicia Salvador, Vanesa Hidalgo, Raquel Costa, and Esperanza Gonzalez 5. Psychobiology of Competition: A Review of Men's Endogenous Testosterone Dynamics. Brian M. Bird, Lindsay Bochon, Yin Wu, and Samuele Zilioli 6. Neuroscience and Competitive Behavior. Michela Balconi and Laura Angioletti 7. The Evolution of Competition: A Darwinian Perspective David Geary and Ben Winegard III. MOTIVATION and EMOTION APPROACHES 8. Competitive Arousal: Sources, Effects, and Implications. Gillian Ku and Marc T.P. Adam 9. Motivational dynamics underlying competition: The opposing processes model of competition and performance Kou Murayama, Andrew Elliot, and Mickael Jury 10. Competition and Goal Pursuit: A Temporally Dynamic Model. Szu-chi Huang and Stephanie Lin 11. Intrinsic Motivation, Psychological Needs, and Competition: A Self-determination Theory Analysis. Richard M. Ryan and Johnmarshall Reeve 12. Envy: A Prevalent Emotion in Competitive Settings. Ronit Montal-Rosenberg and Simone Moran IV. COGNITIVE AND DECISION MAKING APPROACHES 13. Judgmental Biases in the Perception of Competitive Advantage: On Choosing the Right Race to Run David Dunning 14. Social Dilemmas: From Competition to Cooperation. Poonam Arora and Tamar Kugler 15. Self-Evaluation in Competition Pools. Mark Alicke, Yiyue Zhang, Nicole Stephenson, and Ethan Zell 16. On Predicting and Being Predicted: Navigating Life in a Competitive Landscape Full of Mind Readers. Oscar Ybarra, Kimberly Rios, Matthew C. Keller, Nicholas Michalak, and Todd Chan 17. Competition and Risk-taking. Sandeep Mishra V. SOCIAL-PERSONALITY AND ORGANIZATIONAL APPROACHES 18. Social Comparison and Competition: A Progress Report. Stephen Garcia and Avishalom Tor 19. Psychology of Rivalry: A Social-Cognitive Approach to Competitive Relationships. Benjamin A. Converse, David A. Reinhard, and Maura Austin 20. The Psychology of Status Competition within Organizations: Navigating Two Competing Motives. Sarah P. Doyle and Sijun Kim 21. Social Identity and Intergroup Competition. This chapter will explore competition at the intergroup level. Sucharita Belavadi and Michael Hogg 22. Trait Competitiveness. Craig Parks 23. Gender Differences in the Psychology of Competition. This chapter will review and organize the growing literature on gender and competition. Kathrin Hanek VI. Competition in Context 24. Ready, Steady, Go! Competition in Sport. Maria Kavussanu and Andrew Cook 25. Competition in Education. Fabrizio Butera 26. Mindfulness, Competition, and Sports Psychology: A Phenomenological perspective. Ram Mahalingham 27. Hide a Dagger Behind a Smile: A Review of How Collectivistic Cultures Compete More Than Individualistic Cultures. Kaidi Wu
"Stephen M. Garcia is Professor in the Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Davis. He was previously Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan, where he maintains an affiliation with the Research Center for Group Dynamics. Professor Garcia is an expert on the psychology of competition and a scholar in the field of judgment and decision making. His work appears in leading journals across the behavioral sciences. Professor Garcia serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, and he is an elected fellow of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology. Avishalom Tor is Professor of Law and Director of the Notre Dame Program on Law and Market Behavior (ND LAMB) at Notre Dame Law School. His behavioral-legal research employs theoretical, empirical, and experimental methods in a broad range of studies that revolve around the three major themes of competition and cooperation among individuals and firms; behavioral policy-making (""nudging""); and the methodology of behavioral law and economics. Professor Tor's interdisciplinary work has been published in a wide range of legal, psychological, decision making, and public policy journals, as well in numerous edited volumes and collections. Andrew J. Elliot is Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Rochester. He has held year-long Visiting Professor positions at University of Munich (2003-2004), University of Cambridge (2008-2009), University of Oxford (2013-2014), and Teachers College and New York University (2022-2023). He conducts research on achievement motivation and has published approximately 300 scholarly papers. He has been Associate Editor at numerous journals (e.g., Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Psychological Science), and is currently Editor of Advances in Motivation Science. Dr. Elliot has served as President of the Society for the Science of Motivation."
