CSFI - The 8 Factors - Competition

The need to compete is natural to most of us. Our society is individualistically orientated, rewarding those who excel beyond their peers. To fit into the fabric of our society, one needs a competitive nature in college. Getting an "A" on a test represents this phenomenon, as does further competing and excelling in extra-curricular activities. Astin found both content and resources approaches to pedagogy tend to favor the academically prepared, assertive student and he further warns "… passivity is an important warning sign that may reflect the lack of involvement" (Astin, 1984).

A study of university students' stress indicated that competition was the highest stress area. Competition stress averaged one-half standard deviation above the mean of the overall norming population of 4,000 adults in 26 occupations (Nannini, Hallberg, Sauer, 1988).

College success as a manifestation of the culture's socialization process place competition high on the list of necessary factors. From the "paper chase" to the Dean's list, competition permeates our entire academic fabric. Vincent Tinto reflects on this factor when he writes "…in the final analysis, it is the interplay between the individual's commitment to the goal of college competition and his commitment to the institution, that determines whether or not the individual decides to drop out of college" (Tinto, 1975).

References

ASTIN, A. (1962). Influences on the student's motivation to seek advanced training: Another look. Journal of Educational Psychology, 53, 303-309.
ASTIN. A.W. (1977) four critical years. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
BRAWER. F.B. (1973). A comparison of the personality characteristics of community college student dropouts and persisters. (ERIC Documentation Reproduction Service. No. ED083980).
BROPHY, D.A. (1986). Follow-up study of the Fall 1984 Sierra College dropouts. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED277420).
CESA, T.A. (1980). Undergraduate leavers and persisters at Berkeley: results of a telephone survey conducted in spring 1979. Based on a speech presented at the Annual Conference of the California Association for Institutional Reserach (10th). (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED187294).
COHEN, A.M. (1970). Student characteristics: personality and dropout propensity. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED038130).
DEBOER, G.E. (1985). Characteristics of male and female students who experienced success or failure in their first college science course. Journal of Research in Science Teachers, 22, 2, 153-62.
DOLLAR, R.J. (1970). Interpersonal values and college persistence. Journal of College Student Personnel, 11, 200-202.
FOX, J.A. (1975). Non-intellective factors in the prediction of academic success of urban college freshmen. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED124637).
HUTCHISON, J.E. (1980). Identifying persisters, voluntary withdrawers and academic dropouts at a liberal arts college. NASPA Journal, 18, 2, 41-45.
KIEVIT, M.B. (1970). Expectations for learning environments and personality factors of students compared to dropouts from two-year institutions. Paper presented at the 1971 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, February 4-7, 1971, New York, New York (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED047667).
LAVIN, D. The prediction of academic performance. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1965.
LOKITZ, B.D., Sprandel, H. (1976), The first year: A look at the freshman experience. Journal of College Student Personnel, 17, 274-279.
LUEPTOW, L.B. (1973). Need for achievement and continuation in college, Psychological Reports, 33, 2, 455-458.
LYON, M.A. & MacDonald, N.T. (1990), Academic self-concept as a predictor of achievement for a sample of elementary school students. Psychological Reports, 66, 1135-1142.
MAUDEL, G.R. & Others (1974). A multivariate study of personality and academic factors in college attrition. Journal of Counseling Psychology 21, 6, 560-567 McMAMMON, W., Jr. (1965). The use of nonintellectual variables in predicting attrition of academically capable students at the University of Tennessee. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. U. of Tennessee.
PACE, C.R. (1982). Achievement and the quality of student effort. Report prepared for the National Commission on Excellence in Education: Los Angeles: High Education.
PANDY, R.E. (1972). Personality characteristics of successful, dropout, and probationary black and white university students. Journal of Counseling Psychology 19, 5, 382-386.
PERVIN, L., Reik. L., & Dalrymple, W. (1966). The college dropout and the utilization of talent. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
PLATT, C. (1988). Effects of causal attributions for success on first-term college performance: a covariance structure model. Journal of Educational Psychology 80, 4, 569-78.
ROWE, F.A. (1992). Relationship of nonintellectual variables to student retention for office occupation majors in the community college, Community/Junior College Quarterly of Research and Practice, 16, 3, 271-78.
SHAFFER, G.S. (1981). Use of a biographical questionnaire in the early identification of college dropouts. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association (27th, Atlanta, GA, March 25-28, 1981). (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED208288).
SIMPSON, C. & Others (1977). A dropout is a dropout is a dropout...A comparison of four different types of university dropouts. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED153543).
SMITH, A.D. (1981). Two-and four-year college student attrition research to the 1980?s: a review. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED264300).
SMITH, D.G. (1976). Personality differences between persisters and withdrawers in a small women?s college. Research in Higher Education, 5, 1, 15-25.)
SPADY, W. (1971). Dropouts from higher education: Toward an empirical model. Interchange, 2, 48-62.
STEWARD, R.J. (1989). Academic persistence and Black university students' perceived personal competencies. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED304512).
TINTO, V. (1975). Dropout from higher education: A theoretical synthesis of recent research. Review of Educational Research, 45, 89-125.
TRENT, J.S. & Medsker, L. (1968). Beyond high school: A psycho-sociological study of 10,000 high school graduates. San Francisco; Jossey-Bass.
TRENT, J., & Ruyle, (1965). Variations, flow and patterns of college attendance. College and University, 41, 61-76.
TRIPPI, J. & Stewart, J.B. (1989). The relationship between self-appraisal variables and the college grade performance and persistence of Black freshmen. Journal of College Student Development, 30, 484-491.
TWEDDALE, R.B. (1977). Non-returning students: A year-long perspective. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED156015).
TWEDDALE, R.B. (1978). Attendance patterns of non-graduating students: Fall 1975 to Fall 1977. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED156017).
TWEDDALE, R.B. (1978). The non-returning student: why do they leave and will they return? (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED156023).

Return to the 8 Factors page


	The need to compete is natural to most of us. Our society is individualistically orientated, rewarding those who excel beyond their peers. To fit into the fabric of our society, one needs a competitive nature in college. Getting an "A" on a test represents this phenomenon, as does further competing and excelling in extra-curricular activities. Astin found both content and resources approaches to pedagogy tend to favor the academically prepared, assertive student and he further warns "… passivity is an important warning sign that may reflect the lack of involvement" (Astin, 1984). A study of university students' stress indicated that competition was the highest stress area. Competition stress averaged one-half standard deviation above the mean of the overall norming population of 4,000 adults in 26 occupations (Nannini, Hallberg, Sauer, 1988). College success as a manifestation of the culture's socialization process place competition high on the list of necessary factors. From the "paper chase" to the Dean's list, competition permeates our entire academic fabric. Vincent Tinto reflects on this factor when he writes "…in the final analysis, it is the interplay between the individual's commitment to the goal of college competition and his commitment to the institution, that determines whether or not the individual decides to drop out of college" (Tinto, 1975). References ASTIN, A. (1962). Influences on the student's motivation to seek advanced training: Another look. Journal of Educational Psychology, 53, 303-309. ASTIN. A.W. (1977) four critical years. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. BRAWER. F.B. (1973). A comparison of the personality characteristics of community college student dropouts and persisters. (ERIC Documentation Reproduction Service. No. ED083980). BROPHY, D.A. (1986). Follow-up study of the Fall 1984 Sierra College dropouts. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED277420). CESA, T.A. (1980). Undergraduate leavers and persisters at Berkeley: results of a telephone survey conducted in spring 1979. Based on a speech presented at the Annual Conference of the California Association for Institutional Reserach (10th). (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED187294). COHEN, A.M. (1970). Student characteristics: personality and dropout propensity. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED038130). DEBOER, G.E. (1985). Characteristics of male and female students who experienced success or failure in their first college science course. Journal of Research in Science Teachers, 22, 2, 153-62. DOLLAR, R.J. (1970). Interpersonal values and college persistence. Journal of College Student Personnel, 11, 200-202. FOX, J.A. (1975). Non-intellective factors in the prediction of academic success of urban college freshmen. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED124637). HUTCHISON, J.E. (1980). Identifying persisters, voluntary withdrawers and academic dropouts at a liberal arts college. NASPA Journal, 18, 2, 41-45. KIEVIT, M.B. (1970). Expectations for learning environments and personality factors of students compared to dropouts from two-year institutions. Paper presented at the 1971 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, February 4-7, 1971, New York, New York (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED047667). LAVIN, D. The prediction of academic performance. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1965. LOKITZ, B.D., Sprandel, H. (1976), The first year: A look at the freshman experience. Journal of College Student Personnel, 17, 274-279. LUEPTOW, L.B. (1973). Need for achievement and continuation in college, Psychological Reports, 33, 2, 455-458. LYON, M.A. & MacDonald, N.T. (1990), Academic self-concept as a predictor of achievement for a sample of elementary school students. Psychological Reports, 66, 1135-1142. MAUDEL, G.R. & Others (1974). A multivariate study of personality and academic factors in college attrition. Journal of Counseling Psychology 21, 6, 560-567 McMAMMON, W., Jr. (1965). The use of nonintellectual variables in predicting attrition of academically capable students at the University of Tennessee. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. U. of Tennessee. PACE, C.R. (1982). Achievement and the quality of student effort. Report prepared for the National Commission on Excellence in Education: Los Angeles: High Education. PANDY, R.E. (1972). Personality characteristics of successful, dropout, and probationary black and white university students. Journal of Counseling Psychology 19, 5, 382-386. PERVIN, L., Reik. L., & Dalrymple, W. (1966). The college dropout and the utilization of talent. Princeton: Princeton University Press. PLATT, C. (1988). Effects of causal attributions for success on first-term college performance: a covariance structure model. Journal of Educational Psychology 80, 4, 569-78. ROWE, F.A. (1992). Relationship of nonintellectual variables to student retention for office occupation majors in the community college, Community/Junior College Quarterly of Research and Practice, 16, 3, 271-78. SHAFFER, G.S. (1981). Use of a biographical questionnaire in the early identification of college dropouts. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association (27th, Atlanta, GA, March 25-28, 1981). (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED208288). SIMPSON, C. & Others (1977). A dropout is a dropout is a dropout...A comparison of four different types of university dropouts. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED153543). SMITH, A.D. (1981). Two-and four-year college student attrition research to the 1980?s: a review. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED264300). SMITH, D.G. (1976). Personality differences between persisters and withdrawers in a small women?s college. Research in Higher Education, 5, 1, 15-25.) SPADY, W. (1971). Dropouts from higher education: Toward an empirical model. Interchange, 2, 48-62. STEWARD, R.J. (1989). Academic persistence and Black university students' perceived personal competencies. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED304512). TINTO, V. (1975). Dropout from higher education: A theoretical synthesis of recent research. Review of Educational Research, 45, 89-125. TRENT, J.S. & Medsker, L. (1968). Beyond high school: A psycho-sociological study of 10,000 high school graduates. San Francisco; Jossey-Bass. TRENT, J., & Ruyle, (1965). Variations, flow and patterns of college attendance. College and University, 41, 61-76. TRIPPI, J. & Stewart, J.B. (1989). The relationship between self-appraisal variables and the college grade performance and persistence of Black freshmen. Journal of College Student Development, 30, 484-491. TWEDDALE, R.B. (1977). Non-returning students: A year-long perspective. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED156015). TWEDDALE, R.B. (1978). Attendance patterns of non-graduating students: Fall 1975 to Fall 1977. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED156017). TWEDDALE, R.B. (1978). The non-returning student: why do they leave and will they return? (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED156023). Return to the 8 Factors page
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