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Article

Competitive Structures — Their Development and Diagnosis

Pages 263-268
Published online: 28 Dec 2017
 
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Competition can be defined as healthy (OK) or unhealthy (not OK). This paper examines unhealthy competition, resulting from the incorporation of key developmental decisions which suggest that self-worth and the worth of others are dependent on winning and losing. Unhealthy competition includes win-lose competition at ages two to three years, right-wrong and better-worse competitions at ages three to six years, and top-bottom competition at ages seven to twelve years. Sentence types used as diagnostic tools in assessing the four kinds of unhealthy competition are also discussed.

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Author information

Lawrence Kokkelenberg

Lucie King, M.S.W., is an ITAA Teaching Member and a psychotherapist in private practice in Wheeling, Illinois, U.S.A.
Lawrence Kokkelenberg, Ph.D., is an ITAA Teaching Member and a business consultant and trainer in McHenry, Illinois, U.S.A.