The effect of bottom elimination system on individual competition: testing the N-effect

Based on the social comparison model of competition, this research investigates the effect of the bottom elimination system on the level of individual competition, and the effect of the number of competitors and the elimination ratio under this system. Experiment 1 examined the effect of different incentives on individual competition levels through a simple text transcription task. Experiment 2 further tested the effect of the number of competitors and the elimination ratio on the level of individual competition by creating a bottom elimination scenario. The results of the two experiments showed that (1) Individuals exhibited higher levels of competition under the bottom elimination system than under the top reward system. (2) Under the bottom elimination system, N-effect is valid. The higher the number of competitors, the lower the level of competition. (3) The elimination ratio of the bottom elimination system buffers the N-effect, and the N-effect disappears under the condition of 20% elimination ratio.