title: Competitiveness across the life span: the feisty fifties.
abstract: Existing theories on life span changes in confidence or motivation suggest that individuals' preferences to enter competitive situations should gradually decline with age. We examined competitive preferences in a field experiment using real financial stakes in 25- to 75-year-olds (N = 543). The critical dependent variable was whether participants chose to perform a simple mental arithmetic task either under a piece-rate payment schedule (i.e., $.25 per solved item) or a competitive payment schedule ($.50 per solved item if the overall score is better than that of a randomly selected opponent, $0 otherwise). Results revealed that competitive preferences increased across the life span until they peaked around age 50, and dropped thereafter. We also found that throughout, men had a substantially larger preference for competing than women-extending previous findings on college-aged participants. The age/gender differences in preferences were neither accounted for by actual differences in performance nor individuals' subjective confidence. This first systematic attempt to characterize age differences in competitive behavior suggests that a simple decline conception of competitiveness needs to be reconsidered.
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1285, USA.
authors: Ulrich
authors: U
authors: Mayr
authors: Dave
authors: D
authors: Wozniak
authors: Casey
authors: C
authors: Davidson
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Kuhns
authors: William T
authors: WT
authors: Harbaugh
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003163:Competitive Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012649:Self Concept; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012919:Social Behavior