Coaction and Competition in India and Canada

Abstract

Two experiments examined the performance of Indian and Canadian male undergraduates while either alone or coacting, under competitive and noncompetitive instructions and under instructions which emphasized either quality or quantity. The first experiment indicated that the Indians performed much more rapidly than the Canadians and were less responsive to the competitive instructions and the presence of a coactor. The Indians were found to have larger intradyadic differences in performance than the Canadians, and they paid less attention to the quality of their performance. These results were confirmed in a second experiment in which the response rate was reduced by emphasizing performance quality. Two alternative explanations were offered to account for the lack of coaction effects among the Indians: first, adaptation or reduced arousal due to smaller personal space and a crowded environment; and, second, lack of concern about the actual performance of the coactor.