The psychological implications of co-opetition

外行人往往认为合作和竞争是同一个维度的两极。心理学研究经常比较暗示合作的情况（因为它们具有积极的相互依赖性）和暗示竞争的情况（因为它们具有消极的相互依赖性）。然而，许多现实世界的情况涉及人与人之间的积极和消极的相互依赖。例如，团队中的员工在竞争晋升或上级认可时必须合作，或者团队运动员在竞争下一场比赛中的位置时一起练习。这种既需要合作又需要竞争的情况称为竞合。近年来，管理学文献广泛地讨论了企业间合作竞争的实施和经济效应。然而，合作竞争的心理效应却鲜有研究。该项目旨在帮助缩小这一差距。重点是合作竞争对人类信息处理的影响。更具体地说，我们追求三个目标：（1）鉴于与合作竞争相关的相互冲突的需求，合作竞争应该会导致认知灵活性的增加。我们调查是否是这种情况下，哪种形式的灵活性是受合作竞争。(2)认知灵活性有助于避免决策中的偏见。例如，它可能有助于避免刻板印象和确认偏见。在此基础上，本文的目的是检验合作竞争是否有助于避免决策偏差。(3)先前关于竞合的研究（包括目标1和2的工作）主要考察了它对后续情况下信息处理的影响（所谓的结转效应或心态效应）。这里的目的是测试是否灵活性更高，信息处理的偏见是较低的情况下，特点是合作竞争。我们计划进行三个系列的13个在线和实验室实验，以实现这些目标。在每个实验中，我们将比较合作竞争的结果与（a）竞争，（B）合作，以及（c）没有积极或消极相互依赖的绩效情况。所获得的见解将有助于更好地理解以竞合为特征的日常情况的影响。潜在的后续项目应特别调查日常（工作）生活中竞合的长期影响。

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.