Amicable Rivalries and Hostile Rivalries: Divergent Profiles of Motivation and Unethical Conduct

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Chai, Valentino E.; Converse, Benjamin A.; Garcia, Stephen M.; Chen, Patricia
• 署名单位: Stanford University; University of Virginia; University of Virginia; University of California System; University of California Davis; University of Texas System; University of Texas Austin
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0021-9010
• DOI: 10.1037/apl0001353
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: UNIVERSAL DIMENSIONS; STEREOTYPE CONTENT; MODEL; competence; perception; COMMITMENT; WARMTH; self; Discontinuity; satisfaction

摘要

Rivalries motivate competitive performance but can also increase unethical intentions. Although extant theorizing treats this moral-motivational trade-off as inevitable, we show that rivalry's effect on unethical intentions depends on the tenor of the rivalry. Colder competitive relationships (hostile rivalries) exhibit the competitive profile documented in the literature: stronger motivation and increased unethical intentions. But warmer competitive relationships (amicable rivalries) involve a different competitive profile: stronger motivation without increased unethical intentions. Study 1 supported the assumption that participants could identify both amicable and hostile rivalries in their lives. These different rivalries evoked different judgments of warmth, but they did not differ in relationship duration, importance, or competitive domain. Study 2 demonstrated that amicable and hostile rivalries involve higher motivation compared to nonrival competition, but only hostile rivalries provoked stronger unethical intentions. This divergence can be partly explained by individuals' relative focus on the outcome of winning versus the process of competing against hostile (relative to amicable) rivals (Studies 2 and 3). Prompting participants to reflect on the value they derive from the process of competing against their hostile rival significantly reduced unethical intentions (Study 3). These findings encourage more nuanced theorizing about rivalry and identify pathways for organizations to leverage the motivational benefits of rivalry without the ethical trade-offs.