COMPETITION SURVEY J. Mascazine, Ph.D.
4.1 Competition Survey. Use this survey to help discover how your children are balancing the issues of competition and comparisons. Mark the column that matches their response. Use a separate survey for each of your children. This survey is suitable for use with children of aged seven and older with adult guidance.
| Child’s Name ____________________ | Never | Seldom | Sometimes | Often |
| I feel my friends expect me to compete with my same-age siblings. | ||||
| 2. I have to explain to my teachers that I’m different from my siblings. | ||||
| 3. Adults think I like competing with my sibling(s). | ||||
| 4. I choose to participate in activities different from my sibling(s) because I don’t want to compete with them. | ||||
| 5. I feel many people don’t get to know me as an individual because I’m a twin/multiple. | ||||
| 6. Competition is one negative part of being a twin. | ||||
| 7. My same-age sibling(s) actually bothers me more often than helps me when I’m doing my school work. | ||||
| 8. There’s too much competition in my family. | ||||
| 9. I would rather cooperate with my sibling(s) than compete against them. | ||||
| 10. If I compete in a game or contest and do not win I usually hope my sibling will not win either. | ||||
| 11. I think my teacher compares my work with the work my sibling does. | ||||
| Totals for each column: | ||||
| Total of Never & Seldom Columns: | Total of Sometimes &Often Columns: | |||
| Subtract the Never & Seldom Column total from the Sometimes & Often Columns: | This is your score. |
Scoring: Add the number of Often or Sometimes responses to the statements. Subtract the number of statements that were marked either Never or Seldom. If the resulting difference is 6 or higher, it’s a strong indicator that this individual is struggling with issues of comparison and competition with their same-age siblings. A final score of 5 or lower indicates that the individual is dealing effectively with competition issues. A negative score, likewise, would indicate that competition and comparison issues are not adversely affecting this individual. This is intended as a guide along with other information to accurately assess the way a person is dealing with these issues. No single survey or score should be taken alone as an indicator of a person’s level of comfort or discomfort with the issue of competition.