Abstracts - Earli

the constructive role of competition and also its intertwined nature with cooperation. Kobal Grumdemonstrates how different patterns of competition relate to self-concept in a cross-cultural study.In order to develop potentials for learning the most effectively the best possible motivationalsupport is needed. This symposium aims to contribute to that goal.Epistemic motivation and threat in competition: the double-edged sword of sociocognitive conflictJudith Harackiewicz, University of Wisconsin, USAMany theorists have debated whether educational activities should be structured in a cooperativeor competitive manner in order to promote motivation and performance (e.g., Deutsch, 1949;Johnson & Johnson, 1989, 1990; Slavin, 1996). Findings from two lines of research, oneconducted with elementary students at a basketball camp, and the other with college studentsplaying word games, highlight the complexity of competition and illustrate the importance ofconsidering social factors that moderate the effects of competition on motivation and learning. Inparticular, socially transmitted information about other people’s performance can have epistemicvalue, especially when others find different solutions to a problem, stimulating task engagementand learning. However, this same information can be perceived as threatening, if it signifiesinferior performance. Thus, the same social information may have very different effects dependingon the competitive context in which people process the information, and the results of twoexperimental studies with college students shows that socio-cognitive conflict promotes taskengagement and perceived competence in noncompetitive contexts, but undermines interest andconfidence in competitive contexts. On the other hand, our findings from the basketball studiessuggest that competition may have more positive effects when it involves intergroup competitionin which individuals work together to compete against other groups. In these situations, we mightexpect information about peers’ performance to have strong epistemic value and promote grouplearningDoes competition motivate and contribute to learning? The students’ perspective.Márta Fülöp, Institute for Psychology, Hungarian Academy of Sci, HungaryIn the educational psychological literature typically competition as compared to cooperation hasbeen viewed as producing negative outcomes at both the individual (lower results in performance,higher anxiety level etc.) and at group levels. Competition also has been argued to reduce intrinsicmotivation (Deci & Ryan, 1985) because of extrinsic rewards (such as grades, awards) and hasbeen connected to performance goals and decreasing the level of achievements in the long run.There have been relatively few studies to reveal how students of different countries perceive therole competition plays in school and learning. We carried out two of these studies. One with highschool students from Japan, Hungary and the USA (altogether 800 students) and another one withHungarian high school and university students (641 respondents). The first study applied aquestionnaire with open-ended questions, the second investigation used a questionnaire withclosed-ended questions. The first study investigated how students see the presence of competitionat the different levels of their schooling (primary, middle and high school) and also the kind of roleit plays in studying. In the next study students had to evaluate the role and effects of competitionduring school lessons. Our results showed that students experience competition at all three schoollevels in each of the three countries and they attribute significantly more positive consequences toit (improvement, enhanced achievment, more will power etc.) than negative ones to it. Also,according to Hungarian high school and university students the presence of competition comparedto the lack of it, contributes to higher activity, curiosity, attention and concentration, while evokingsomewhat more stress. Our results do not confirm that competition undermines motivation,– 424 –