The psychological implications of co-opetition

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Kai Sassenberg
• Subject Area: Social Psychology, Industrial and Organisational Psychology
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 509427346

Laypeople tend to perceive cooperation and competition as opposite poles of one dimension. Psychological research often compares situations that suggest cooperation (because they are characterized by positive interdependence) with situations that suggest competition (because they are characterized by negative interdependence). However, many real-world situations involve positive and negative interdependence between people. For example, employees on a team must cooperate while competing for promotion or recognition from superiors, or team athletes practice together while competing for a place on the team in the next game. Such situations, which require cooperation and competition simultaneously, are called co-opetition. In recent years, the management literature has extensively addressed the implementation and economic effects of inter-firm co-opetition. However, the psychological effects of co-opetition have hardly been studied. This project aims to contribute to closing this gap. The focus is on the effects of co-opetition on human information processing. More specifically, three goals are pursued: (1) Given the conflicting demands associated with co-opetition, co-opetition should lead to increased cognitive flexibility. We investigate whether this is the case and which form of flexibility is affected by co-opetition. (2) Cognitive flexibility can help avoid biases in decision making. For instance, it may contribute to the avoidance of stereotyping and confirmation bias. Based on this, the purpose here is to examine whether co-opetition contributes to avoiding biases in decision making. (3) Previous research on co-opetition (including the work planned here on Objectives 1 & 2) has mainly examined its effect on information processing in subsequent situations (so-called carry-over or mindset effects). The aim here is to test whether flexibility is higher and biases in information processing are lower in a situation characterized by co-opetition. We plan to conduct three series with 13 online and laboratory experiments to achieve these goals. In each experiment, we will compare the outcomes of co-opetition to those of (a) competition, (b) cooperation, and (c) a performance situation without positive or negative interdependence. The insights gained will contribute to a better understanding of the effects of everyday situations characterized by co-opetition. Potential follow-up projects should especially investigate the long-term effects of co-opetition in every day (work) life.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants