Academic Competition in the School System: At What Cost?

Abstract

Competition pervades our culture across sports, entertainment, politics, and corporations, seeping also into educational institutions. Today, children are urged not only to "play to win" but also to "learn to win." Despite awareness of competition's negative psychological and social impacts, it remains a cornerstone of the educational system as it is perceived as a strong motivating factor for academic achievement. However, academic competition has received less attention than its athletic and social counterparts, with previous research often overlooking its effects on interpersonal relationships. Existing studies have either used inappropriate measures for academic settings or failed to differentiate between other-referenced and task-oriented competition, which respectively focus on surpassing peers for status and on personal growth. This thesis introduces new scales tailored for assessing academic competition among adolescents. A pilot study involving 532 adolescents in southwestern Ontario (Mage =15.23) validates these scales through factor analysis using Principal Component Analysis, distinguishing between other-referenced and task-oriented competition. The new scales demonstrate reliability, with Cronbach's alpha coefficients of .789 for other-referenced competitiveness and .825 for task-oriented competitiveness. Regression analyses reveal a significant positive association between other-referenced competitiveness and bullying perpetration, while task-oriented competitiveness shows a moderate inverse relationship with bullying. These findings underscore the need to differentiate between competition for skill development and for status, as the latter may inadvertently foster bullying tendencies. This study emphasizes the importance of nuanced understanding in academic competition and its implications for student well-being. The discussion encompasses implications, limitations, and avenues for future research in this area.