Structure and Content Based Model of Competitiveness as a Personal Trait

About the author:

Eugenia G. Belyakova, Dr Sci. (Ped.), Professor, Academic Department of Methodogy and Theory of Social and Pedagogical Research, Tyumen State University; b-evgenia@yandex.ru

Abstract:

This study aims at the structure-content based analysis of individual’s competitiveness as an integral component. This article explains the significance of this quality in nowadays’ society, the importance of its development in educational establishments. Despite a significant amount of psychological and pedagogical studies of this phenomenon, it is necessary to give a more detailed description of “competitiveness”. The author suggests two opposing definitions of “competitiveness”: a “positive” and a “negative” one; in this light, individual’s competitiveness can be revealed in different forms of competitive behavior. Adequate competitiveness has a positive impact on one’s skills and motivates self-development when the situation is perceived as competitive. A type of competition, called “game without rules”, may have destructive effects such as conflict situations, hostility, manipulation, etc., aimed at the competitor. The results of the study lie in the author’s interpretation of individual’s “competitiveness” suggesting that it stimulates students’ potential in the situation of competition. The structure based model of “competitiveness”, being an integral personal trait, has been presented. The main role has been given to the value-meaning based component which implies an opportunity for personal growth under the circumstances of competition. In the structure of “competitiveness” the author points out the significance of self-motivation, importance of adequate presentation of socio-cultural situation and its requirements, participation in the competitive interaction. The author has described the multilevel model of factors affecting the development of students’ competitiveness. The model is comprised of internal and external factors; the most important factors involve socialization, educational and professional environment, processes in the labor market, socio-economic relations in a society, and mass media. In the conclusion the author states that the structure-content based model of competitiveness allows setting guiding lines for its development, determining basic channels of influence on this process, working out diagnostic tools, etc.

References:

1. Andreev V. I. 2013. Konkurentologiya. Uchebnyi kurs dlya tvorcheskogo samorazvitiya konkurentnosposobnosti [Competitiveness. A Study Course for Developing Creative Competitiveness]. Kazan: Tsentr innovatsionyh tehnologiy.
2. Valezhanina Т. V. 2014. Formirovanie konkurentnosposobnosti buduschih pedagogov professional’nogo obucheniya v sotsial’nom partnyorstve vuza i malyh predpriyatiy [Developing Competitiveness among Prospective Teachers of Professional Education in Social Cooperation of Universities and Small Enterprises].
3. Gavrilova А.G. 2013. Psihologicheskie usloviya organizatsii konstruktivnoy konkurentnoy sredy v sisteme trudovyh otnosheniy [Psychological Conditions for Organizing an Effective Competitive Environment in the System of Labor Relations]. Moscow.
4. Mitina L. М. 2002. Psihologiya razvitiya konkurentnosposobnoy lichnosti [The Psychology of Competitive Person Development]. Moscow: Moskovsky psihologo-sotsial’nyj institute; Voronezh: MODEK.
5. Plugareva А. V. 2008. Psihologicheskoe soprovozhdenie razvitiya konkurentno-sposobnoy lichnosti studenta [Psychological Accompaniment of Competitive Student Development]. Pyatigorsk.
6. Podyakov А. N. 2006. Psihologiya konkurentsii v obuchenii [The Psychology of Competitiveness in Education]. Moscow: GU-VSHE.
7. Тerelyanskaya I. V. 2012. Psihologicheskoe soprovozhdenie razvitiya tvorcheskoy konkurentnosposobnoy lichnosti studenta v obrazovatel’nom protsesse vuza [Psychological Accompaniment of Creative and Competitive Student Development in the Education Process of University]. Nizhniy Novgorod.
8. Tokareva Е. V. 2007. Individual’no-psihologicheskie osobennosti razvitiya konkurentnosposobnosti lichnosti [Individual and Psychological Peculiarities of Competitive Person Development]. Moscow.
9. Flier А. Ya. 2000. Kul’turologiya dlya kul’turologov: Uchebnoe posobie dlya magistrantov i aspirantov, doctorantov i soiskateley, a takzhe prepodavateley kul’turologii [Culturology for Culturologists: Handbook for Students of Master, Post-Graduate and Post-Doctorate Degrees, as well as Teachers of Culturology]. Moscow: Akademicheskiy proekt.
10. Khazova S. А. 2011. Razvitie konkurentnosposobnoy lichnosti v sisteme obrazovaniya [Developing a Competitive Person in Education System]. Maykop.
11. Shapovalov V. I. 2008. Formirovanie konkurentnosposobnoy lichnosti v usloviyah shkol’nogo dopolnitel’nogo obrazovaniya [Forming a Competitive Person under the Conditions of Additional School Education]. Edited by Yu. S. Tyunnikov. Sochi: SGUTiKD.
12. Shmelev А. G. 1997. Produktivnaya konkurentsiya. Opyt konstruirovaniya ob’’edinitel’noy kontseptsii [Productive Competition. The Experience of Forming a Unifying Conception]. Moscow: Magistr.
13. Shmelev А. G. 2014. “Konkurentsiya kak metakategoriya v sovremennoy psihologii” [Competition as a Meta Category in Modern Psychology]. Vestnik Yuzhno-Uralskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya Psykhologiya, vol. 6, no 3, pp. 105-115.
14. Shmelev А. G. 2014. Konkurentsiya kak metakategoriya v sovremennoy psihologii [Competition as a Meta Category in Modern Psychology]. Vestnik Yuzhno-Uralskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya Psykhologiya, vol. 6, no 4, pp. 97-108.