Quasitherapeutic effects of intergroup competition

9 combat engineering squads competed in their training and garrison duties to test the hypothesis that intergroup competition promotes close interpersonal relations among group members and improves morale and adjustment. 18 squads for whom no changes were introduced served as controls. Questionnaire measures of interpersonal relations and adjustment were obtained before and after a 3-mo experimental period. Changes in self-perceptions and reactions to military life showed relative improvement in Ss' adjustment as compared with controls. Ss also had a lowered level of manifest anxiety on the Taylor scale. Improvement in the quality of interpersonal relations was indicated by a significantly greater change in within-squad sociometric choices of combat leaders and work partners for the members of competitive squads. However, these improvements did not generalize to nontask aspects of squad relations.