A psychological model of competitive behavior: social comparison as a mediator of the critical thinking, self-efficacy, and adaptation ability prediction among college students

This study is aimed to test a theoretical model of the critical thinking, self-efficacy, and adaptation ability prediction towards competitive behavior, with social comparison as a mediator. Participants comprised 334 active university students in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. This study applied a predictive-correlational design, with data obtained using questionnaires and analyzed with Structural Equation Modeling. The analysis indicated that the theoretical model corresponds to empirical data (RMSEA = 0.00, NNFI = 1.00) showing that sample data is an accurate representation of the data that would be present in the population (RMSEA < 0.05, NNFI > 0.90). However, critical thinking ability can not predict competitive behavior as mediated by social comparison. This present study provides a deeper understanding that competition is a complex behavior that involves the dimensions of a person's cognitive, self, and adaptive qualities, that cannot be separated from the social context.