Many wise people, as well as Geezer, are persuaded that it’s possible to be a bit too competitive, or, in medical terms, pathologically competitive. Where do you fall? Are you healthy or are you nuts? One way to find out is to read this piece in The Los Angeles Times, which directs us to a Competitiveness Index put together by John Houston, a professor of psychology at Rollins College in Winter
Park, Florida. Houston asks athletes such true-false questions as:
1) Competition destroys friendships.
2) Games with no clear-cut winners are boring.
3) I often try to outperform others.
4) In general, I will go along with the group rather than create conflict.
5) I enjoy competing against an opponent.
6) I dread competing against an opponent.
If the answers to Questions 2, 3 and 5 are true, the Times reports, then the person responding probably is very competitive.
Don’t like what you see? Want a recount? Check out the work of psychologist Richard Ryckman of the University of Maine, whose Hypercompetitive Attitude Scale uses a
5-point scale ranging from "never true of me" (which scores as a 1) to
"always true of me" (scores as a 5). Higher scores indicate greater
hypercompetitiveness. The single most revealing question  the one that correlated most
directly to the hypercompetitive personality  turned out to be:
"Winning in competition makes me feel more powerful as a person." Here
are some of the other statements from the scale:
1) If I can disturb my opponent in some way to get the edge of competition, I will do so.
2) I can’t stand to lose an argument.
3) I find myself being competitive even in situations which do not call for competition.
4) I compete with others even if they’re not competing with me.