Competition in Friendship 217more importantly, there was a clear association between other- referenced competi-
tion (i.e., hypercompetitiveness) and dislike by peers. In an Italian study of 8- year-
olds, although friends displayed more competitive behavior than nonfriends in a
competitive game, behavior in the game was unrelated to the continuation of the
friendship (Fonzi, Schneider, Tani, & Tomada, 1997). More recently, Ensor, Hart,
Jacobs, and Hughes (2011) observed 6- year- old children playing competitive board
games and found that when threatened with losing the game to a same- sex friend,
boys (more so than girls) displayed problem behaviors and made negative com-
ments and gestures during the game.
Researchers have also examined children’s cognitive processing about competi-
tion as well as developmental changes in competitiveness. For example, Komolova
and Wainryb (2011) gave 5- , 10- , and 17- year- olds hypothetical scenarios showing a
protagonist and friend in conflict situations with either trivial or “weighty” outcomes
for each of the characters. The 5- and 10- year- olds prioritized the friend’s preferences
regardless of the match of the characters’ desires, whereas 17- year- olds more carefully
weighed the balance of the characters’ desires and reasoned that personal desires must
sometimes give way to support a friend. Other research suggests a developmental
shift in preferences away from competition within friendships. For example, Berndt,
Hawkins, and Hoyle (1986) showed that friends (versus nonfriends) increased their
preference for equal sharing rather than competition between fourth and eighth
grades; moreover, eighth graders did not consider competition as an acceptable alter-
native to equal sharing. To sum, although past work provides clues about the impact
that competitive situations and trait competitiveness may have on friends and non-
friends, when taken together, these studies do not seem to indicate any clear pattern
regarding the role of competition in friendship among young children.
Adolescence
Much of the work on competition in friendships during adolescence is grounded
in the assertion made by Sullivan (1953) that competition is natural and encour-
aged in youth, but hostile rivalry in early adolescence is antithetical to intimacy
and could facilitate the termination of friendships. In a study of seventh graders in
Canada, Costa Rica, and Cuba, Schneider, Woodburn, del Pilar Soteras del Toro,
and Udvari (2005) found that hypercompetitiveness (defined as an intense need
to win expressed by hostility and disregard for the opponent as a person) within
friendship was associated with conflict, less closeness, and relationship dissolution.
Moreover, this study found that hypercompetitiveness was more strongly associ-
ated with poor- quality friendships for females than males. In a study comparing
gifted versus nongifted junior high students, Schapiro, Schneider, Shore, Margison,
and Udvari (2009) found that gifted students demonstrated a more task- oriented
competitiveness, whereas nongifted students demonstrated more other- referenced
competitiveness, and other- referenced competitiveness negatively affected