How Competitive Are You? Exclusive Survey from Yahoo! Shine & Fitness Magazine Explores the Competitive Habits of Men & Women

80% of adults admit to being competitive;
53% of women are most competitive about their intelligence;
90% of adults would compete with a best friend for a job

SUNNYVALE, Calif. & NEW YORK--()--A majority (80%) of adults admit to being competitive with 43% claiming to be “extremely” or “very” competitive according to a new survey from Fitness Magazine and Yahoo! Shine. The exclusive survey asked 1,000 women and men to examine their competitive nature. The survey found adults compete about their intelligence (51%), work (45%) and hobbies (44%).

The results appear in the July/August issue of Fitness, on stands June 26, and online at Yahoo! Shine, the leading site for women’s lifestyle content.

Highlights from the findings are below.

  • Fierce Competition
    Men& women are most likely to compete with:
    • Friends 47%
    • Siblings 44%
    • Co-workers 43%

      They also admitted they are more competitive when with friends (34%) than when at work (28%).
  • What are you most competitive about?
    The survey found that adults compete most about:
    • Intelligence 51%
    • Work 45%
    • Hobbies 44%

      While both men and women are most competitive about their intelligence, women are significantly more competitive over intelligence (53%) than men (44%). Women are also more competitive about athletic ability than men (42% vs. 39%) as well as about work (34% vs. 33%) and money (27% vs. 26%).
  • Competing at the gym
    Over two-thirds (64%) of men and women are likely to compare their performance with the person next to them at the gym. Young men and women, 18-34, are even more likely (70%) to compare their gym performance with others.
  • Giving credit, where credit is due
    Women are three times less likely than men to take credit for a colleague’s work. Only 4% of women said they would accept full credit for the job and 89% said they would give a co-worker some or full credit.
  • Would you compete with a friend for a job?
    While 90% of adults would compete with a best friend over a job, men are more aggressive than women, with 20% of men vs. 12% of women admitting they would lobby nonstop for the job. However, women are more likely than men (79% vs. 69%) to pursue the job in a “low key” way.
  • Fighting for love
    Nearly 40% of adults have competed over a potential romantic partner at some point. More than half of men (nearly 53%) admit to having competed over a potential partner

Watch Fitness Executive Editor Pam O’Brien discussing this survey on The Shine on Yahoo!: http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/why-women-competitive-232700588.html

Full survey results available by request.
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About the Survey:

Yahoo! partnered with Ipsos MediaCT to conduct the Yahoo! Shine sex survey in February 2012. We interviewed n=1,001 Americans ages 18 to 64 representative of the U.S. online population via an online quantitative survey.

About Fitness magazine

Launched in 1992, Fitness magazine is celebrating twenty years as a leading source for all the latest news on health, nutrition and exercise. Fitness motivates women to move—for fun, for health, for life. With workouts and diet plans that get results, plus inspiring beauty and health tips, Fitness empowers women to be fierce about reaching for and achieving body success, however they define it. Fitness is published 10 times a year by Meredith Corporation [NYSE: MDP], with a rate base of 1.5 million and an audience of 7.3 million readers. For more information, please visit www.fitnessmagazine.com.

About Yahoo!

Yahoo! is the premier digital media company, creating deeply personal digital experiences that keep more than half a billion people connected to what matters most to them, across devices and around the globe. And Yahoo!’s unique combination of Science + Art + Scale connects advertisers to the consumers who build their businesses. For more information, visit the pressroom (pressroom.yahoo.com) or the company’s blog, Yodel Anecdotal (yodel.yahoo.com). Follow us @YahooInc

Shine is the leading site for women’s lifestyle content with more than 36 million visitors per month.

Contacts

Yahoo! Global Communications
Becky Auslander, 212-381-6909
beckya@yahoo-inc.com
or
Fitness Magazine
Carrie Carlson, 212-551-7053
carrie.carlson@meredith.com

Contacts

Yahoo! Global Communications
Becky Auslander, 212-381-6909
beckya@yahoo-inc.com
or
Fitness Magazine
Carrie Carlson, 212-551-7053
carrie.carlson@meredith.com