The effects of goal structures and competition on mutual likability of friends verses non-friends : an experimental design

Abstract

Background. Previous literature had examined how the adoption of cooperative, competitive and individualistic goal structures in academic tasks influence students’ altruistic behaviors. However, little research has investigated the relationship between goal structures in non-academic activities and children’s affective outcomes. Moreover, the specific differentiation of friends from ordinary acquaintances was seldom considered.

Aims. This study compares the immediate effect of different goal structures in a non-academic task on children’s mutual liking.

Sample. The participants were 116 fourth and fifth grade students in Hong Kong.

Methods. Participants were paired to form friend and non-friend dyads and the dyads were randomly assigned into one of three experimental conditions: cooperative, competitive and individualistic. In all the three conditions, dyads were asked to do a photo-hunt task twice, but the content of instructions and the basis of reward were different.

Results. In the cooperative condition, participants’ liking towards their partners had significantly increased, and the average rating was significantly higher than that in the competitive condition. Specifically, the increase in liking between non-friend dyads was greater than that in friend dyads. In competitive condition, the liking between friend dyads had significantly decreased, but the change in liking between non-friend dyads was not significant. No meaningful change was observed in the individualist condition.

Conclusion. The findings suggested that children’s liking towards their peers would increase when they were given chance to cooperate with each other; and the liking might decline when they participated in activities that required competition. Implications for activity-planning and group composition are discussed.