Do you think people with AS have less drive to compete?

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I was just thinking, do think a lot of people with AS, they enjoy playing sports but,,only for fun? And they don't have the need to get one over on the other person as much? I'm not really sure if I'm clear enough...what do you think?

I'm *very* competitive. I want to prove I'm smarter than the other person; but I rarely compete in sports. Even if it's a friendly game of cards; I feel great winning and hate to lose.

Well Tom that fits what I've said about different ways; I have no problem with competition, but I want to win by merit, not subterfuge...

I mean they want to do things well,,, but don't feel the need to put the other people down so much?

As wrong as it is, I'm driven by the need to prove my superiority in games.

I hate losing!! !!Good thing I rarely do!! !! !

I never play sports, but in other games or competitions I'm not really competative. I do have to be good enough to win, or I don't bother to do it at all. If the competition involves something that I am obsessed with, then my competitive drive comes out, and I HAVE TO WIN!

Sounds right....



Exactly - I hate being second best, I might as well not have bothered, but stamping on others' heads or cheating to get there first is anathema to me. Being best is more important than winning by any means. For this reason I prefer to compete against myself as it is less frustating than trying (and failing obviously) to be the best at everything...

Dunc

I'm compeditive to the EXTREME.

2nd best isn't good enough. I like to strive to achieve.

I don't care about sports though, as I hate team sports. But other things I am very compeditive about.

I meant in sports mainly.

i think i prefer cooperation to competition as a rule especially as i see myself as quite a weak person.

I am not competitive because I want to put other people down. I am competitive in that I want to be as good as possible, and when I see other people doing better, it makes me feel a little inadequate. This is mostly regarding my artwork.

Still, it helps, to have people who are more knowledgeable and practiced than I am, in a class. That way, it forces me to strive to be better, and also, I can learn from their successes and failings.

As for sports, I've only played recreational soccer (in high school), and I was not competitive at all. I was just doing it to have fun and to try to keep fit. Unfortunately, most other people did not feel that way. (And, I wasn't very good ).

The arena doesn't really matter tom as you'll see two distinct aproaches wherever you look. In the work place for instance, the Aspies types will work hard at doing their own jobs well, and at helping others out. The ones who want to become managers, though, give at least as much thought to how they can undermine the efforts of others in order to make them look bad; it's ironic that management collectively are trying to prioritise "team playing" and force it on those who do it naturally, when the majority of "company men" will gladly squander fortunes by trashing the projects of their fellow managers, just to give themselves the competetive edge!

Two ends, and two ways of getting there. It's not that Aspies are uncompetetive as such, it's just we are "things" oriented, whereas to "succeed" in life one must be people oriented, as most institutions have "people" oriented means of assessment.

This isn't just my view, as nearly everyone who's spent a few years in industry realises that people get promoted by pulling the right strings, not by acheiving (as we'd measure it); and didn't someone recently post a link to a survey that measured factors leading to senior executive appointments that showed the most important factor was how well the candidates had publicised their "acheivments"? I doubt an Aspie would even consider publicising in this way...

I think the drive to compete depends on the activity or thing.

For me, I don't care about fashion or cars, so I'm just going to buy whatever is affordable and good enough for me.

Socially I know I have my shortcomings, and my neurological differences to NTs makes communicating to them more tiresome and less rewarding than doing something which I genuinely enjoy.

I would like to be more competitive in study to compensate for my social deficits, and also coz I want to try my best and show them that I'm not intellectually stupid. To get good marks in an academic subject is the reward for hard work.

It would probably depend on the person.

I'm one of the most competitive people my parents and I have ever known. I learned from several painful experiences in my youth that no matter how hard I tried, I would never be very good at pretty much any sport or physical game and would always "lose". Moreover I eventually found that my worst emotional outbursts as a kid came from losing games, so I disciplined myself as much as possible to try to forget about my defeats and avoid most competition - not the best way to cope, but for me it had the least hassle involved. I still feel very competitive, but I hide it and try to keep out of most competitions.