Cultural values emphasizing the desire to acquire status, as well as cultures values devaluing similarity with others & gender egalitarianism, predict higher levels of competitiveness toward members of one’s own gender

Buunk, A. P. (2020). Cultural dimensions associated with intrasexual competitiveness. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, Mar 2021. https://doi.org/10.1037/ebs0000233

Abstract: In the present study among 80 exchange students from 30 countries studying in The Netherlands, I examined how intrasexual competitiveness (ISC), that is, a competitive attitude toward members of one’s own gender, was associated with various cultural dimensions. A multiple regression analysis showed that vertical individualism predicted ISC positively and that horizontal collectivism predicted ISC negatively. That is, the higher individuals were in ISC, the more likely they came from cultures accepting inequality and status differences as a law of nature and the less likely they came from cultures emphasizing the similarity of members of their own culture. In addition, data independently collected showed that ISC was typical for those from cultures with a low level of gender egalitarian values. I conclude that cultural values emphasizing the desire to acquire status, as well as cultures values devaluing similarity with others and gender egalitarianism, predict higher levels of ISC.