No Contest: The Case Against Competition (Paperback)

by Alfie Kohn (Author) "Life for us has become an endless succession of contests..." (more)
Key Phrases: intentional competition, exclusive goal attainment, structural competition, United States, Morton Deutsch, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Contending that competition in all areasschool, family, sports and businessis destructive, and that success so achieved is at the expense of another's failure, Kohn, a correspondent for USA Today, advocates a restructuring of our institutions to replace competition with cooperation. He persuasively demonstrates how the ingrained American myth that competition is the only normal and desirable way of lifefrom Little Leagues to the presidencyis counterproductive, personally and for the national economy, and how psychologically it poisons relationships, fosters anxiety and takes the fun out of work and play. He charges that competition is a learned phenomenon and denies that it builds character and self-esteem. Kohn's measures to encourage cooperation in lieu of competition include promoting noncompetitive games, eliminating scholastic grades and substitution of mutual security for national security.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Kohn, a journalist whose work has appeared in such publications as The Nation and Psychology Today , has written a timely summary of research and commentary by others on the psychology of competitiveness. He seeks to debunk "the rationalizations for competition"that it is inevitable, more productive, more enjoyable, and likely to build character. In closely reasoned argument he shows that, while competition is deeply ingrained, it is also inherently destructive, especially where self-esteem is contingent on winning at the expense of others. The book, which lacks depth only in its discussion of organizational behavior and the incentive for creativity, will provoke considerable discussion. Recommended for general collections and subject collections on social interaction. William Abrams, Portland State Univ. Lib., Ore.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin; 2nd, Revised edition (November 12, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395631254
• ISBN-13: 978-0395631256
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #69,388 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The competitive mindset can be unlearned, September 3, 2001

By	Coert Visser "solutionfocusedchange.com" (Driebergen Netherlands) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In this inspiring and well-researched book Alfie Kohn describes how we, in our compulsion to rank ourselves against one another, turn almost everything into a contest (at work, at school, at play, at home). Often, we assume that working toward a goal and setting standards for ourselves can only take place if we compete against others. By perceiving tasks or play as a contest we often define the situation to be one of MEGA: mutually exclusive goal attainment.

This means: my success depends on your failure. Is this wise? No! Is this inevitable? No! This book brilliantly shows how: 1) competitiveness is NOT an inevitable feature of human nature (in fact, human nature is overwhelmingly characterised by its opposite - co-operation), 2) superior performance not only does not require competition; it usually seems to require its absence (because competition often distracts people from the task at hand, the collective does usually not benefit from our individual struggles against each other), 3) competition in sports might be less healthy than we usually think because it contributes to the competitive mindset (while research shows that non-competitive games can be at least as enjoyable and challenging as competitive ones), 4) competition does not build good character; it undermines self esteem (most competitors lose most of the time because by definition not everyone can win), 5) competition damages relationships, 6) a competitive mindset makes transforming of organizations and society harder (those things requiring a collective effort and a long-term commitment).

I think many people reading this book will recognize in themselves their tendency to think competitively and will feel challenged and inspired to change. And that's a good thing. Our fates are linked. People need to, and can choose to, build a culture in which pro-social behaviors and a co-operative mindset are stimulated. The competitive mindset can be unlearned. By developing a habit to see and define tasks as co-operative we can defy the usual egoism/altruism dichotomy: by helping the other person you are helping yourself.

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The definitive rebuke of competition to date., August 1, 1998

By A Customer

Alfie Kohn has written a masterwork of social psychology in his book, No Contest. Assailing on of our society's most sacred cows, he argues convincingly that common sense notions of competition -- that it is innate, is fun, builds character, and increases productivity -- are all myths. Drawing upon a voluminous amount of sociological and psychological research, Kohn slowly dissects the seedy world of competition and exposes its unsavory reality. Competition hurts productivity in all but the most mindless of tasks; it does build character, but invariably the wrong kind; it is not an innate human instinct but a product of controllable social forces. Last, the notion of competition being fun is the greatest insult and immorality to humanity. For the whole point of MEGA (mutually-exclusive goal attainment -- the fundamental component of competition) is to succeed based on the failure of someone else. Unfortunately, Kohn gives the reader little to go on in the way of! changing from a competitive to a cooperative society, except that people should shun competition and promote cooperative behaviors -- something easier said than done considering most competition is forced upon us. (Kohn offers more in the way of solutions in his other book, Punished by Rewards). Still, Kohn provides tremendous food for thought; and if his objective was to force the reader to, at the very least, reconsider the dubious value of competition in social interactions and institutions, he has done his job exceedingly well.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Summary; Potentially Life-Changing, June 1, 2001

By	Kenneth I. Laws (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Alfie Kohn's "No Contest: The Case Against Competition" (1986) was an unexpected find. I've been a believer in the free market system, with products getting better and cheaper through competition. That certainly seems to work, especially in computer hardware -- but this book has turned my thinking around. Hundreds of studies have shown that once a goal is established, cooperation will always produce better results (and better people) than competition. If two cooperative groups compete, results are usually due to the cooperative dynamics and are actually weakened by the inter-group competition. People working for pleasure and mutual support will be more creative and more productive than those working to best others. Also happier. Kohn carefully dispels arguments that competition is productive, necessary, or acceptable in moderation. He tears apart sports as a social model, showing that cheating is inherent and encouraged rather than an unfortunate aberration. ("We try to beat others in an effort to prove our own worth. Ultimately this strategy reveals itself as futile, since making our self-esteem contingent on winning means that it will always be in doubt. The more we compete, the more we *need* to compete.") Competition in all forms is shown to be toxic to individuals and to society. ("For enjoyment to derive wholly from the process of beating another person is more than a little disturbing...", and "Despite this evidence ... we continue trying to succeed at the price of other people's failure. Often *we* are those 'other people' who fail, but this scarcely diminishes our quest for victory or our belief that competition is good for us.")

You couldn't ask for a much better explanation of what's wrong with US culture. (Nearly all other societies are less competitive, and some are almost completely cooperative.) Kohn doesn't have much to say about how we can overhaul our culture, other than by substituting non-competitive games for what we currently teach children. He does suggest that our reduction in racial and gender discrimination shows we can also end competitive indoctrination. More immediately, I suggest that each of us look for ways to motivate our subordinates cooperatively rather than competitively.

Kohn doesn't address two questions that interest me: 1) Will competitive societies (and their sports-trained armies) tend to absorb non-competitive neighbors? Darwin saw competition everywhere in nature, but there are many species where cooperative behaviors are common and may have "won out" over millions of years. Will human greed, aggression, and [Western? male?] dominance structures allow cooperative societies room to develop? 2) Do competitive companies and societies set more goals, and more ambitious goals, than cooperative groups, outweighing the inherently low efficiency of competitive behavior? This would explain why competitive societies such as the US have progressed faster than non-competitive ones such as China. Something to think about. Meanwhile, I don't believe I can convince my daughter to drop out of competitive sports -- or even to read the book, which is rather dense and scholarly.