Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-55f67697df-xq6d9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-05-10T04:08:44.562Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 11 - Conclusion

Insights and Reflection Questions about Competition Dynamics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2025

Ahlam Lee
Affiliation:
Xavier University
Get access

Summary

The dominant assumptions positing a linear relationship among individualism, capitalism, competition, and inequality are often rooted in the perspectives of social scientists, whose focus is frequently confined to the West in modern times. I argue that these dominant assumptions have been formulated without sufficient opportunities or willingness to consider societies with cultures and systems different from those of the West. In this regard, this book challenges these dominant assumptions by presenting compelling counter-evidence that (1) competition occurs in every society throughout history whenever humans seek to survive and thrive; and (2) competition does not necessarily lead to inequality, but often serves as a tool to mitigate it, as competitions prevent absolute hegemony and allow individuals to challenge incumbent powers or privileged groups across cultures, systems, and eras. This closing chapter encourages readers to reassess their existing beliefs about the sources and consequences of competition and to strive for a deep understanding of competition arenas that they may choose to enter or inadvertently launch.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Ashby, H., Markey, D., Randolph, K., Sharad, K., Tugendhat, H., & Verjee, A. (2023, August 30). What BRICS Expansion Means for the Bloc’s Founding Members. United States Institute of Peace. www.usip.org/publications/2023/08/what-brics-expansion-means-blocs-founding-membersGoogle Scholar
Baumgartner, T., Götte, L., Gügler, R., & Fehr, E. (2012). The mentalizing network orchestrates the impact of parochial altruism on social norm enforcement. Human Brain Mapping, 33(6), 14521469. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.21298CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Binder, C. C. (2018). Redistribution and the individualism-collectivism dimension of culture. Social Indicators Research, 142, 11751192. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-018-1964-6CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bordo, M. D., & Levy, M. D. (2021). Do enlarged fiscal deficits cause inflation? The historical record. Economic Affairs, 41(1), 1193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Callais, J. T., & Geloso, V. (2023). Intergenerational income mobility and economic freedom. Southern Economic Journal, 89(3). 732753. https://doi.org/10.1002/soej.12611CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chetty, R., Hendren, N., Kline, P., & Saez, E. (2015). Economic Mobility. The Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality.Google Scholar
Cikara, M., Bruneau, E. G., & Saxe, R. R. (2011). Us and them: Intergroup failures of empathy. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20(3), 149153. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721411408713CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, A. B., Wu, M. S., & Miller, J. (2016). Religion and culture: Individualism and collectivism in the East and West. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 47(9), 12361249. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022116667895CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dean, J., & Geloso, V. (2022). Economic freedom improves income mobility: Evidence from Canadian provinces, 1982–2018. Journal of Institutional Economics, 18, 807826.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dreu, C. K., Dussel, D. B., & Velden, F. S. (2015). In intergroup conflict, self-sacrifice is stronger among pro-social individuals, and parochial altruism emerges especially among cognitively taxed individuals. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 572. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00572CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fatfouta, R., Sawicki, A., & Żemojtel-Piotrowska, M. (2021). Are individualistic societies really more narcissistic than collectivistic ones? A five-world region cross-cultural re-examination of narcissism and its facets. Personality and Individual Differences, 183, 111163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.111163CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fiske, A. P. (1991). The cultural relativity of selfish individualism: Anthropological evidence that humans are inherently sociable. In Clark, M. S. (ed.), Prosocial Behavior (pp. 176214). Sage Publications, Inc.Google Scholar
Fowler, J. H., & Kam, C. D. (2007). Beyond the self: Social identity, altruism, and political participation. The Journal of Politics, 69(3), 813827. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2508.2007.00577.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology. The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. The American Psychologist, 56(3), 218226. https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-066x.56.3.218CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Friesen, J. P., Laurin, K., Shepherd, S., Gaucher, D., & Kay, A. C. (2018). System justification: Experimental evidence, its contextual nature, and implications for social change. The British Journal of Social Psychology, 58(2), 315339. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12278CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haelg, F., Potrafke, N., & Sturm, J.E. (2022). The determinants of social expenditures in OECD countries. Public Choice, 193, 233261. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127–022-00984-4CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, L. T., & Fiske, S. T. (2006). Dehumanizing the lowest of the low: Neuroimaging responses to extreme out-groups. Psychological Science, 17(10), 847853. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01793.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hayward, R. D., & Kemmelmeier, M. (2007). How competition is viewed across cultures: A test of four theories. Cross-Cultural Research, 41(4), 364395. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069397107306529CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heberer, T. (2002). The role of private entrepreneurship for social and political change in the People’s Republic of China and Vietnam. In Thomas, M. & Solvay, G. (eds.), Chinese Entrepreneurship and Asian Business Networks (pp. 100128). Routledge.Google Scholar
Hein, G., Silani, G., Preuschoff, K., Batson, C. D., & Singer, T. (2010). Neural responses to ingroup and outgroup members’ suffering predict individual differences in costly helping. Neuron, 68(1), 149160. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2010.09.003CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. J., & Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind: Intercultural Cooperation and Its Importance for Survival. McGraw Hill.Google Scholar
Howell, E. (2020). The Juche H-bomb? North Korea, nuclear weapons and regime-state survival, International Affairs, 96(4),10511068, https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiz253CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inglehart, R. (1997). Modernization and Postmodernization: Cultural, Economic, and Political Change in 43 Societies. Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, D. D. P., Price, M. E., & Van Vugt, M. (2013). Darwin’s invisible hand: Market competition, evolution and the firm. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 90, S128S140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2012.12.016CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kammas, P., Kazakis, P., & Sarantides, V. (2017). The effect of culture on fiscal redistribution: Evidence based on genetic, epidemiological and linguistic data. Economics Letters, 160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2017.08.029CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, S. (2003). The natural roots of capitalism and its virtues and values. Journal of Business Ethics, 45(4), 387401. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024115915442CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koivunen, A., Ojala, J., & Holmén, J. (2021). Always in crisis, always a solution? The Nordic model as a political and scholarly concept. In Koivunen, A., Ojala, J., & Holmén, J. (eds.), The Nordic Economic, Social, and Political Model (pp. 119). Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kristensen, P. M. (2015). Revisiting the “American Social Science”: Mapping the geography of international relations. International Studies Perspectives, 16(3), 246269. https://doi.org/10.1111/insp.12061CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, J. (2023). Collective memory and everyday politics in North Korea: A qualitative text analysis of New Year statements, 1946–2019. Asian Studies Review, 48(2), 270288. https://doi.org/10.1080/10357823.2023.2226814CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, J. W., & Bairner, A. (2009). The difficult dialogue: Communism, nationalism, and political propaganda in North Korean sport. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 33(4), 390410. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193723509350609CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Makrides, V. N. (2009) Orthodox anti-Westernism today: A hindrance to European integration? International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church, 9(3), 209224. https://doi.org/10.1080/14742250903186935CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mann, M. (2016). Have human societies evolved? Evidence from history and pre-history. Theory and Society, 45(3), 203237. www.jstor.org/stable/24717534CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marsh, A. (2018, February 5). Could a more individualistic world also be a more altruistic one? National Public Radio: Cosmos & Culture. www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2018/02/05/581873428/could-a-more-individualistic-world-also-be-a-more-altruistic-oneGoogle Scholar
Mastracci, S., & Adams, I. (2019). Is emotional labor easier in collectivist or individualist cultures? An East–West comparison. Public Personnel Management, 48(3), 325344. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091026018814569CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mazumder, B. (2022). Intergenerational Economic Mobility in the United States. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. www.chicagofed.org/research/content-areas/mobility/intergenerational-economic-mobilityGoogle Scholar
McDermott, R. (2020). Leadership and the strategic emotional manipulation of political identity: An evolutionary perspective. Leadership Quarterly, 31(2), 101275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2018.11.005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merkel, U. (2009). Pyongyang proudly presents: Mass displays and displays of the masses in North Korea. In Mansfield, L. & Chatziefstathiou, D. (eds.), Leisure Identities and Authenticity (pp. 128). Leisure Studies Association (LSA). www.leisure-studies-association.info/LSAWEB/NewTitle/110.htmlGoogle Scholar
Miller, T., & Kim, A. (2020). Economic freedom underpins Nordic prosperity. The Heritage Foundation. www.heritage.org/international-economies/report/economic-freedom-underpins-nordic-prosperityGoogle Scholar
Nardin, T. (2015). Rationality in politics and its limits. Global Discourse: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Current Affairs and Applied Contemporary Thought, 5(2), 177190. https://doi.org/10.1080/23269995.2015.1018693CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nikolaev, B., Boudreaux, C., & Salahodjaev, R. (2017). Are individualistic societies less equal? Evidence from the parasite stress theory of values. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 138, 3049. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2017.04.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Novak, M., & Adams, P. (2015). Social Justice Isn’t What You Think It Is. Encounter Books.Google Scholar
Oyserman, D., Coon, H. M., & Kemmelmeier, M. (2002). Rethinking individualism and collectivism: Evaluation of theoretical assumptions and meta-analyses. Psychological Bulletin, 128(1), 372. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.128.1.3CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pieterse, J. N., & Peters, M. A. (2012). Understanding the sources of anti-Westernism: A dialogue between Jan Nederveen Pieterse and Michael A. Peters. Policy Futures in Education, 10(1), 5969. https://doi.org/10.2304/pfie.2012.10.1.59CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 6878. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Santos, H. C., Varnum, M. E. W., & Grossmann, I. (2017). Global increases in individualism. Psychological Science, 28(9), 12281239. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617700622CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schuknecht, L., & Zemanek, H. (2021). Public expenditures and the risk of social dominance. Public Choice, 188, 95120. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-020-00814-5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Serpa, S. (2020). The Cold War, the international sport psychology and the ISSP. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 51(5), 409435. doi:10.7352/IJSP.2020.51.409Google Scholar
Sowell, T. (2014). Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy (5th ed.). Basic Books.Google Scholar
Sowell, T. (2023). Social Justice Fallacies. Basic Books.Google Scholar
Tillman, W. S., & Carver, C.S. (1980). Actors’ and observers’ attributions for success and failure: A comparative test of predictions from Kelley’s cube, self-serving bias, and positivity bias formulations. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 16(1), 1832. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1031(80)90033-5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
US Department of the Treasury. (2008). Income mobility in the US from 1996 to 2005. https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Report-Income-Mobility-2008.pdfGoogle Scholar
Whyte, J. (2019). In praise of selfish individualism. In Kennedy, A. & Panton, J. (eds.), From Self to Selfie. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19194-8_3Google Scholar
World Economic Forum. (2020). The Global Social Mobility Report 2020: Equality, Opportunity and a New Economic Imperative. World Economic Forum. www3.weforum.org/docs/Global_Social_Mobility_Report.pdfGoogle Scholar
Xu, G. (2001). Anti-Western nationalism in China, 1989–99. World Affairs, 163(4), 151162.Google Scholar
Xu, G. (2012). Chinese anti-Western nationalism, 2000–2010. Asian Studies, 16(2), 109134. https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2012.-16.2.109-134CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Conclusion
  • Ahlam Lee, Xavier University
  • Book: Questioning Conventional Assumptions of Competition Dynamics
  • Online publication: 07 May 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009348133.011
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Conclusion
  • Ahlam Lee, Xavier University
  • Book: Questioning Conventional Assumptions of Competition Dynamics
  • Online publication: 07 May 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009348133.011
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Conclusion
  • Ahlam Lee, Xavier University
  • Book: Questioning Conventional Assumptions of Competition Dynamics
  • Online publication: 07 May 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009348133.011
Available formats
×