Do you have a case of a bad relationship?

According to Psychology Journal 2011 (affiliation: University of Southern Maine), hypercompetitiveness affects more than romantic relationships.

As you may have guessed, "hyper" refers to something of the extreme. The psychology term for the lovely big word is the need to compete and succeed at "all costs." Symptoms of H-C typically include aggressive tendency to want to dominate through manipulation and exploitation of others. The goal is to boost one's self-worth.

H-C is destructing and backwards, as it typically goes in hand with low self-esteem and unhealthy arrogance. Individuals with H-C are less psychologically healthy.

In romantic relationships, H-C results in low levels of trust, jealousy, little emotional support, in need for domination and in conflicts.

However, H-C partners do not show lesser levels of satisfaction with their relationships or out-of-the-ordinary commitment issues comparing to non H-C partners.

A 2011 study on undergraduate men and women shows that men are naturally more hypercompetitive than women. Men also voice to have "greater" problems with family and friends, having less close relationships with these groups than women.

Finally, hypercompetitiveness could be blamed on the nature of American life and American "win-at-all-cost" attitude. THIS IS SPARTA!


Written from Hypercompetitiveness and Relationships: Further Implications for Romantic, Family, and Peer Relationships. Psychology 2011. Vol.2, No.4.