Abstract
The goal of this study was to seek the potential relationship between interpersonal competitiveness and improvement in reaction time in a visual search task. Interpersonal competitiveness is a desire to win or do better than others. The participants’ interpersonal competitiveness was measured using the Competitiveness Index (CI), which measures interpersonal competitiveness at trait level. The stimulus consisted of multiple red or green circles (3.5° in diameter) or squares (3.2° per side) that were presented on a computer screen. Each shape contained a white line segment (1.5° x 0.2°) in its center. The spatial configuration of the shapes was always circular (aligned on an imaginary circle of 14° radius). The total number of shapes was 8, 12, 16 or 20. The participant’s task was to judge the orientation of the line segment (vertical or horizontal) in a target shape that is unique and different from all the others as soon as possible. Reaction time and response accuracy were recorded. Accuracy was used as a criterion and set at a threshold of 90%. Participants ran a first session and were immediately shown their results. They then completed the CI. Participants were informed that their reaction time would be rank-ordered and compared among all the participants. Finally, the participants ran a second session. They were categorized into two groups based on their CI score: the competitive group and the noncompetitive group. We hypothesized that participants with a high CI score will show a greater improvement in reaction time from session 1 to session 2. A mixed ANOVA indicated that the competitive group (M = 273 ms) showed a significantly higher improvement of reaction time from session 1 to session 2 compared to the noncompetitive group (M = 205 ms), F (1, 93) = 5.035, p = .027, supporting our hypothesis.
Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015