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This experiment studied how success and failure outcomes occurring under competitive and noncompetitive reward structures influenced children's attributional and affective responses. Fifth-grade boys (N -40) solved sets of achievement-related puzzles, working in pairs in which 1 succeeded and 1 failed at the task. Results showed that the reward structure of the performance setting was an important determinant of self and interpersonal evaluations. Competitive conditions caused self-punitive behavior for failure outcomes and some ego-enhancing strategies for success outcomes. Failing subjects expressed strong negative affect and perceived themselves as less capable than their successful partners, while successful subjects perceived themselves as more deserving of reward than their failing partners. No differences in self-other attributions or affect were found in noncompetitive conditions.

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The purpose of this study was to examine children's cognitive-attributional and affective response patterns within competitive and individualistic goal structures. Performing within a competitive or individualized setting was expected to influence how children utilized past performance and immediate performance outcome cues. Eighty children first performed individually to establish a performance history of success or failure and subsequently succeeded or failed in a competitive or individualized setting. Findings showed that effort attributions covaried with outcome in the individualistic structure, whereas luck and outcome covaried in the competitive structure. Only in the individualistic structure was past performance a salient cue in determining positive or negative affective reactions. Through an attributional analysis, the results are contrasted with prior research that has equated individualistic and competitive goal structures.