Josie Nix
Psychology
Campos
18 September 2018
REC Project 1
The Long Shadow of Rivalry:
Rivalry Motivates Performance Today and Tomorrow
For REC Project 1, I chose the article “The Long Shadow of Rivalry: Rivalry Motivates Performance Today and Tomorrow.” This passage not only explains and researches the powers and motivation of rivalry, but also gives real life examples, statistics, and quotes to prove how rivalry can boost competitions and performances through all levels of sports. This passage provides a basis of competition and motivation through not just team rivalry, but individual rivalry as well. With this information, more research on the boost of motivation and competition has been made which can help not only athletes alone, but entire teams to do better throughout season, throughout postseason and playoffs, and lastly, the shadow of rivalry can even reach up to a year after the game of the rivals!
Rivalry can “… foster increased motivation and performance not just today but over the long term… rivals rarely meet in the tournament, a rivals performance can motivate a focal team outside of head-to-head competition with the rival…” (Source at page 804, paragraph 2, line 2.) This proves that rivalry has an impact on performance, motivation, and multiple other competition factors. In the article, there were multiple experiments conducted and studies to collect research and data to prove that the long shadow of rivalry exists and the impact of it on multiple sports in a variety of ways. Some of the data the research collected proved that rivalry is so powerful that its effects can pass beyond simple head-to-head matches, and motivate even when “true rivals” aren’t competing against each other directly. For example, when NBA superstars Larry Bird and Magic Johnson weren’t competing head-to-head; Magic’s performance still motivated Larry. Larry admitted, “The first thing I would do every morning was look at the box scores to see what Magic did. I didn’t care about anything else”( Source at page 805, paragraph 1, line 5)- this reflects the motivation that rivals carry with one another, on or off the court/ field/ or whichever sport the rivals are competing in. With a rivalry this strong, the performance can motivate and boost competition between the rivals not just the day of, but the next as well.
Current research on rivalry has been proven that for both individuals and teams, “…effort is greater in competitions against rivals as opposed to non rivals…” ( Source at page 805, paragraph 3, line 3.) This boosts performance and motivates by raising the psychological importance of competition. The article tested the idea that strong performances of rivals provide long-term and generalized motivation- creating a huge boost on performance long after the initial competition.
In this article, many sports and teams were examined to find the link between competition boost and rivalry/ motivation. The NCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball Tournament was one of the groups studied, and the Big Four U.S. professional sports (playoffs)- NBA, NHL, NFL, and MLB were the other studied in this research article. This allows a broad range of data, from both professional athletes to amateur athletes. Within these studies, the article is allowed to dive deeper into the motivation versus rivalry study and will demonstrate the power that rivalry has over competition throughout a range of sports.
The NCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball Tournament is a single-elimination tournament involving 64 teams and is most often called “March Madness,” because of its huge popularity and excitement it brings across the U.S. With an average of 10 million view per game, and 20 million views in the championship- these athletes are competing not only to win, but to make an impact on the NBA scouts to later go into the NBA, and to help them measure their success from college onward. (Heitner, 2017; Purdum, 2017.) The tournament allows not only fans to view each team and players performance, but also allows teams and individuals to see each other’s performance- spurring on the rivalry and motivation further. For example, Florida Gulf Coast University’s successful 2013 tournament led to a 35% increase in application at the college.(Brennan, 2014; Helfand, 2016.) The samples started with the seasons and teams of the NCAA and each team was identified with their rivals, and studied throughout the tour names from 1979-2013. The research identifies that a key to the research is the competition of rivals must be repeated to be considered “true rivals,” from which the data could be accurately taken and tested. Toward the end of the research, the model showed the positive linear effect of the team's rival motivation the next year. This was especially shown when the rival actually won the tournament ( increased the boost of motivation,) but when the rival lost the tournament, the boost actually went down, (decreased boost of motivation.)
In the second study, a broader range of sports is studied which provides new research, yet the same boost of motivation against rivals. The Big Four, (NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL) each earn roughly the more than “…$100 million in revenue per year, and in the NFL, the average is more than $250 million…” (Gaines, 2014.) Each sport will end the year with a tournament, or the playoffs, to identify the champion. The playoffs provide enormous excitement for players and fans alike- being a must-watch for the fans, and allowing advertisers to spend millions to reach the fan base. The players receive monetary value and payoffs to further motivate them. These playoffs create and display the “primary measure of success,” (Source at page 809, paragraph 3, line 4) to really show “the best of the best.”
Each of the Big Four’s rivals were identified (same as NCAA study) and the experiment was identical to that of the NCAA study. With the research for the major leagues, the study showed the rivals played better once their rivals played better in the preceding playoffs- leading the motivation boost of the competition. This blatant display shows the rivalry between professional teams and players alike- the most motivation was when the rival won the preceding tournament the year before.
With examining the two different settings of sports, the evidence showed the shadow was overwhelming and proved that “… a rival’s performance motivates a focal team’s performance…” (Source at page 810, paragraph 5, line 5.) Like stated above, the largest motivator was when the rival won the preceding tournament the year or so before. The overall evidence supports the statement that “…rivalry can escape the bounds of head-to-head competition and cast its shadow into situations that do not include direct competition with one’s rival.” (Source at page 811, paragraph 2, line 13.) The research provides that rivalry can “…affect long-term behavior, extending existing research on rivalry’s immediate consequences…” (Source at page 811, paragraph 4, line 2.) With these statements and information, rivalry is shown to directly influence motivation within teams and individuals when experiencing their rivals whether head-to-head, or not.
While shown to influence great motivation, rivalry can also have a demotivative nature, when seen the incorrect ways. (For example, if a rival does poorly, one may lower their aspirations and not succeed in the way which they could.)(Source at page 811, paragraph 5, line 6.) This demotivative nature is usually extremely rare compared to the motivational boost against rivals- as shown in the multiple research studies conducted throughout the article. With this being a fact, the negative nature isn’t very studied and isn’t seen as a major influencer on the recent research done.
In conclusion of this article, college and professional sports alike both demonstrate the motivation that rivalry carries over teams and individuals alike- creating greater competition along with greater athletes. The facts point to the conclusion of the proof of the long shadow- as shown “prior postseason predicated a focal team’s performance in the following postseason…” (Source at page 812, paragraph 3, line 6-7.) Rivalry points to the long shadow of motivation and inspiration alike throughout all sports and athletes together.