Humans have always had a strong competitive streak that has fuelled many of our greatest achievements, but are we getting more ruthless and why might this matter? A look at current trends and surveys will help show how our desire to win is evolving.
Board Games and Game Shows Are Helping to Fuel Our Competitive Edge
In our digital age, one can easily access a huge variety of board games and game shows, and an exploration of this accessibility may help us understand our competitive edge in modern times. TV shows like Dragon’s Den introduce us to the cut-throat world of business startups, with entrepreneurs fighting hard to bring their ideas to life. While Squid Game took the concept of competing against others to the extreme. Perhaps it was so massively successful because it tapped into an underlying trend for increased competitiveness.
Classic table games have long given us a way of taking part in games with friends and family, but the fact we can now play online lets us sharpen our playing skills at any time. Live game shows with real money stakes are popular now, with this live game shows offer for new customers revealing how getting started is easy. Titles including Monopoly Live, Crazy Time, and Funky Time reveal the variety of this genre. These are games of chance with a live human dealer presenting the game while players place their bets.
Some other theories suggest that the increasingly competitive world we live in is due to technological advances and globalisation. Perhaps it’s easier for us to imagine a better life and work harder to attain this, while technology makes it easier for us to put our skills and knowledge to good use.
What Can We Find Out from Surveys?
It’s easy to find surveys that look to find out whether we’re now more competitive and what drives us. A recent report suggested that Londoners are the most competitive people in the UK, with about a quarter of the capital’s residents doing everything possible to win at games. The same survey suggested that Yorkshire is the most laid-back region of the country in terms of the determination to win at all costs.
This look at the psychology of competitiveness suggests that our drive to outperform others is highest when we’re competing in smaller groups. As the number of rivals grows, our determination drops in what is known as N-effect. Other surveys suggest that factors including gender and age affect our competitive streak.
This piece in the Harvard Business Review states that women are generally less competitive than men, with evolutionary pressure and differing confidence levels amongst the possible reasons that they provide for this gap. While each new survey adds something extra to our knowledge, it’s still not completely clear why some people are more driven to success than others.
Is More Competitiveness a Good Thing?
Being highly competitive isn’t a good or bad thing on its own. The key is in trying to win while doing the right things and not hurting others’ quest for success. Perhaps the main lesson we’ve learnt by looking at this subject is that technology has helped make our inherent competitiveness more evident, rather than increasing it in some way.
