Competition is a double-edged sword for teenage girls
Tuesday, July 6, 2010 - 10:49
in Psychology & Sociology
Is being competitive a good or a bad thing when you're a teenager? Well, a bit of both actually: competing to win is detrimental to girls' social relationships and was linked to higher levels of depression, whereas this was much less the case for boys. However, competing to excel is beneficial to the well-being of both genders. A new study by Dr. David Hibbard from California State University and Dr. Duane Buhrmester from the University of Texas, US, finds that the influence of competitiveness on psychological well-being and social functioning in adolescents depends on both the type of competitiveness and the teenager's gender. Their findings are published in Springer's journal Sex Roles.