There is growing evidence that individuals’ willingness to compete influences career choices and labor market outcomes. Most existing studies measure competitiveness using individual decision-making in isolation. In real workplace settings, however, potential competitors often have opportunities to communicate and coordinate their decisions, to discourage others from entering a competition, and, in some cases, for losers to undermine winners after the competition.

This proposed experiment introduces two modes of communication that individuals may use to deter others from competing: (1) cheap talk, and (2) the possibility of retaliation. The experiment aims to examine whether, and through which mechanisms, communication affects individuals’ decisions to opt out of competition.

More specifically, the study investigates the extent to which communication facilitates coordination in competition choices, how it influences destructive or retaliatory behavior during or after competition, and how different genders and individuals with different personality traits respond to the availability of communication and retaliation options.