Effects of affiliation-related motives on swimmers in individual versus group competition: A field experiment

76 intercollegiate swimmers from 3 universities participated in both an individual and group competition 200-yd freestyle swim. Hypotheses were based on an expectancy-value approach, which emphasizes the negative as well as positive consequences of undertaking an activity. Achievement and affiliation motives were assessed by J. W. Atkinson's projective measures; Ss also completed the Test Anxiety Scale and the Interpersonal Opinion Questionnaire, a fear-of-social-rejection measure. It was found, as predicted, that while approval-oriented swimmers had faster swimming speeds in group than in individual competition, rejection-threatened swimmers actually had slower swimming speeds in group than in individual competition. This significant Affiliation-Related Motives by Experimental Conditions interaction was also greater for success-oriented than failure-threatened swimmers and for males than females. These latter differences and the advantages of the field-experimental situation are discussed in light of current findings in the motivation area. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1978 American Psychological Association.

Duke Scholars

Author Blair H. Sheppard Fuqua School of Business