The effects of competition and competitiveness on cardiovascular activity

Abstract

Cardiovascular activity was measured at resting baseline and in response to a car racing game, undertaken in competition or in cooperation with an experimenter, or individually. Competitiveness and win and goal orientations were assessed by questionnaire. Competition provoked increases in blood pressure and heart rate, and a significant shortening of the preejection period, an index of enhanced beta-adrenergic influences on the heart. The cooperation task was largely without effect, and although the solo task affected cardiovascular activity, it did so to a lesser extent and much less consistently than did the competition task. The three task conditions, then, were largely distinguishable by their capacity to activate beta-adrenergic processes. Participants high in competitiveness and desire to win showed higher blood pressure reactions and greater shortening of the preejection period to competition than those low in these characteristics.

Gender Differences in Emotional Responses to Cooperative and Competitive Game Play

“…Finally, previous studies have reported that competition elicits higher self-reported arousal [30] and cardiovascular activity [46] than cooperation. Although males have been reported to be more responsive to changes in arousal [41], neither of these previous studies have given evidence that would support differences between the genders during competition and cooperation.…”

How stressful are economic competitions in the lab? An investigation with physiological measures

“…Mean arterial pressure (MAP) was calculated according to the formula MAP = diastolic pressure + 1/3 (systolic pressure -diastolic pressure) (cf. Harrison et al 2001). Due to measurement errors, data of three participants cannot be used for analysis.…”

“…Social-evaluative threat is inherent in competitions as participants are compared along a common dimension that is often relevant for self-esteem. Indeed, increases in the stress hormone cortisol as well as in markers of sympathetic nervous system activity like blood pressure, heart rate, and alpha-amylase have been observed in reaction to sports competitions (e.g., Rohleder et al 2007; Kivlighan and Granger 2006;Cooke et al 2011), during video game playing (Harrison et al 2001;Kivikangas et al 2014;Veldhuijzen Van Zanten et al 2002), and in response to motoric and cognitive tasks which were carried out in a competitive manner (Wittchen et al 2013;Turner et al 2012;Hatfield et al 2013). …”

The level of physical activity affects adrenal and cardiovascular reactivity to psychosocial stress

“…Compared with untrained controls, sportsmen typically show higher levels of self-efficacy (Netz et al, 2005;Rimmele et al, 2007) and competitiveness (Frederick, 2000), with elite sportsmen scoring significantly higher on competitiveness in comparison to amateur sportsmen (Houston et al, 1997). Notably, self-efficacy has been associated with lower anxiety and physiological stress reactivity (Schwarzer, 1992;Bandura, 1997;Butki et al, 2001), and competitiveness has been related to higher cardiovascular reactivity to competition (Harrison et al, 2001). However, studies relating to the modulating influence of self-efficacy and competitiveness on stress reactivity in sportsmen are scarce.…”