More than a game: Trait competitiveness predicts motivation in minimally competitive contexts

Does trait competitiveness predict the desire to outperform others both within and beyond competitive contexts? We conducted five studies (N = 820) to investigate this question. We find that trait competitiveness is a stronger predictor of a person's competitive motivation when situational competitive pressures are weak than when they are strong (Studies 1–3). Whereas people generally concur that strong situational features (e.g., incentives) can compel them to compete, highly competitive people report that even seemingly irrelevant features (e.g., the time of day) compel them to compete (Studies 4–5). These findings draw upon person-situation interaction models to better define what it means to be a competitive person.