“It’s just a contest” — when competition motivates some and blocks others

At a performance leaderboard, Zofia moves her card into first place.

— Yes! Number one. Two days left!
— It’s just a contest — Maja says.

For Zofia, the ranking creates energy. For Maja, it turns an ordinary result into a race against people she never wanted to compete with.

What really happened

Zofia looks at the ranking and immediately feels energised: there is a target, a score and the possibility of winning. Maja sees the same leaderboard and experiences an added layer of pressure that she does not need in order to work well. Her result no longer answers only “did I do this well?” It now also answers “did I do it better than the others?” Zofia may genuinely experience the contest as fun. Maja may genuinely perform worse—or simply feel worse—because ordinary work has been turned into a race. There is no single dose of competition that motivates everyone.

What the research says

People differ in a relatively stable tendency to experience situations competitively and to draw motivation from winning—often described as trait competitiveness. People higher on this trait can perceive a competitive element even in situations that are only mildly competitive (Reese, Garcia & Edelstein, 2022). Performance rankings can increase effort, but their effects depend on factors including how the ranking is displayed, the rewards involved and individual differences among participants (Cadsby et al., 2019). Experimental work on management systems also shows that organizations continually balance mechanisms that promote cooperation and competition (Brown et al., 2016). Competition is therefore a tool, not a universal source of motivation.

How to handle it

If competition is not genuinely necessary for the task, consider making it optional for people who enjoy it. Results can be shown privately, while team goals are kept separate from an individual desire to compete. If a ranking is built into the system, monitor more than output: look for side effects such as excessive risk-taking, information hoarding, reduced cooperation or tension. The general rule: before using competition as “motivation”, ask whether people actually need an opponent—or whether a clear goal and visibility into their own progress would be enough.

How Empatyzer and Em can help

Empatyzer can be particularly useful here because Reiss 16 highlights differences in what energises people. For some, status, scores and competition can be motivating; for others, calm, cooperation, autonomy or meaning matter far more. Zofia can therefore see that a leaderboard is not a neutral motivational device but a tool that affects different people differently. Em can help design alternatives: an opt-in competition for those who enjoy it, individual goals for others, and shared results where collaboration matters. The team view can also show whether a constant culture of racing rewards only one motivational profile. Micro-lessons help leaders understand that motivation is not about finding one powerful lever and pulling it for everyone.