Resource availability differentially influences women’s perceptions of same- (versus cross-) sex others’ competitiveness.

Abstract

Across four studies, the current research tested the prediction that women would perceive greater competitive tendencies in same-(vs. cross-) sex others when resources were scarce. Contrary to predictions, results found evidence that women perceived more competitive tendencies in same-(vs. cross-) sex targets when resources were abundant. Study 1 demonstrated that women (but not men) perceived greater competition within groups of female same-sex targets (vs. groups of male same-sex targets and groups of cross-sex targets) residing in ecologies where resources were widely available; no such pattern emerged when judging competition within groups residing in ecologies where resources were scarce. In Study 2, women (but not men) who held relatively low levels of resource scarcity beliefs (i.e., those who believed resources were relatively abundant) attributed greater competitive tendencies to same-sex targets than cross-sex targets. Study 3 showed that enacting a resource abundance (but not a scarcity) mindset led women to expect same-sex targets to behave more competitively toward them than cross-sex targets; this effect, however, did not replicate in Study 4. With the exception of Study 4, these data suggest that, contrary to intuition-and our predictions-women perceive same-sex others to be more competitive than cross-sex others when resources are abundant. Public Significance StatementThis research shows that women perceive other women to be more competitive than men in contexts where resources are abundant. These findings were not present in men and were not found in contexts of scarcity. As such, this work suggests that resource abundance might have important implications for women's interpersonal interactions with other women.

Married women with children experience greater intrasexual competition than their male counterparts

“…Similarly women showed increased self-sexualization behavior when income inequality increased, suggesting greater self-promotion 37 . In contrast, women perceive same-sex rivals as more competitive when they are in resource-rich contexts 38 . Finally, there is evidence that resource scarcity affects females’ competitive attitudes, but levels of envy modulate the direction of the effect 39 .…”