Competition and performance: more facts, more understanding? Comment on Murayama and Elliot (2012).

Murayama and Elliot (2012) made a significant contribution to the literature on competition by presenting the results of 2 meta-analyses and 3 primary studies on the relation between competition and performance. Murayama and Elliot established that in general, there is no relationship between competition and performance. They then made the case that the lack of relationship is due to 2 opposing processes (performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals) that cancel each other out.

The effects of task and resource interdependence on achievement and social support: an exploratory study of Italian children.

The relative efficacy of positive task interdependence, positive resource interdependence, and individualistic learning were compared with achievement and academic and personal social support. The authors randomly assigned to conditions 66 7th-grade Italian students with no previous experience in cooperative learning. They participated in 6 90-min instructional sessions dealing with the dangers of smoking, alcohol, and drugs.

The impact of size of cooperative group on achievement, social support, and self-esteem.

The effect of cooperative learning in pairs and groups of 4 and in individualistic learning were compared on achievement, social support, and self-esteem. Sixty-two Italian 7th-grade students with no previous experience with cooperative learning were assigned to conditions on a stratified random basis controlling for ability, gender, and self-esteem. Students participated in 1 instructional unit for 90 min for 6 instructional days during a period of about 6 weeks.

Promoting early adolescents' achievement and peer relationships: the effects of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic goal structures.

Emphasizing the developmental need for positive peer relationships, in this study the authors tested a social-contextual view of the mechanisms and processes by which early adolescents' achievement and peer relationships may be promoted simultaneously. Meta-analysis was used to review 148 independent studies comparing the relative effectiveness of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic goal structures in promoting early adolescents' achievement and positive peer relationships. These studies represented over 8 decades of research on over 17,000 early adolescents from 11 countries and 4 multinational samples.

New developments in social interdependence theory.

Social interdependence theory is a classic example of the interaction of theory, research, and practice. The premise of the theory is the way that goals are structured determines how individuals interact, which in turn creates outcomes. Since its formulation nearly 60 years ago, social interdependence theory has been modified, extended, and refined on the basis of the increasing knowledge about, and application of, the theory.

Can interpersonal competition be constructive within organizations?

An empirical analysis was conducted on the conditions under which competition can be constructive. The participants were 64 managers and 28 employees from organizations in mainland China. They were asked to describe specific incidents of competition between them and their fellow employees and rate on a 7-point Likert-type scale the conditions that they perceived affected the outcomes.

Effects of conflict resolution training integrated into a high school social studies curriculum.

The authors examined the effectiveness of conflict resolution and peer mediation training among California high school students. The authors randomly assigned 2 of 4 classes to receive 5 weeks of conflict resolution and peer mediation training integrated into the required social studies curriculum. The remaining 2 classes studied the same social studies curriculum for an identical amount of time (105 min every other day) without conflict resolution and peer mediation training.

Impact of Group Processing on Achievement in Cooperative Groups.

Group processing was examined as a variable mediating the relationship between cooperative learning and achievement. Group processing may be defined as a review of a group session to describe the member actions that were helpful and unhelpful and to decide what actions to continue or change. Four conditions were included in the study: cooperative learning with no processing, cooperative learning with teacher-led processing (the teacher specified what cooperative skills to use, observed, and gave whole-class feedback about how well students were using the skills), cooperative learning with teacher- and student-led processing (the teacher specified what cooperative skills to use, observed, gave whole-class feedback about how well students were using the skills, and had groups discuss how well they interacted as a group), and individual learning.

Type of Task and Student Achievement and Attitudes in Interpersonal Cooperation, Competition, and Individualization.

The effects of interpersonal cooperation, competition, and individualization were compared on drill-review, problem-solving, specific-knowledge acquisition, and specific-knowledge retention instructional tasks. Sixty-six fifth graders were included in the study. Males and females were assigned randomly to conditions so that within each condition there were 22 Ss and an equal number of males and females.