Blog Entry 1- The First Athletic Competitions

Seeing as this is the fist blog post of many concerning competition and the psychology behind it, I think it is fitting to start at the beginning.  Some people may think the very first athletic competitions occurred at the Olympics, but in reality these types of events had been around for many years before.  As early as 3000 B.C. there is archaeological evidence of physical competitions in Egypt and Mesopotamia.  Events such as wrestling and equestrian racing were frequently held by Pharaohs and high ranking nobles in Egypt.  During the Bronze Age, Minoans participated in a competition closely resembling modern bull riding.  However, the participants did not ride the bulls, they jumped headfirst over the charging beast.

http://www.sis.gov.eg/VR/pharo/html/s9.htm

Now that we have some historical context on early competitions, let's take a look at some of the psychology that lies behind these early events.  In Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Abraham Maslow divides his hierarchy into two groups.  The first group consists of the deficiency needs including: psychological, safety, belongingness, and esteem.  According to his theory, each of these must be met before moving on to the next one.  The second group are the growth needs.  These include cognitive, aesthetic, self-actualization, and self-transcendence.  For the purpose of this blog we will focus on the first group, particularly the self-esteem portion.  This section of the hierarchy includes the human need for confidence, achievement, respect of others, and the need to be a unique individual.  I believe it is safe to assume that all of these could be obtained by winning a competition.  There lies the motivation behind the origin of competition: the need to be accepted.  There are many other possible reasons for competitions, but the ultimate goal for each of them goes back to a need for self-esteem.

http://theskooloflife.com/wordpress/self-actualization-in-the-maslow-hierarchy/

Citations:

Huitt, W. (2007). Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved [date] from, http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/regsys/maslow.html


Classics Technology Center(n.d.), The Ancient Olympics, retrieved from http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/consortium/ancientolympics.html