Those who are hypercompetitive tend to need constant validation from the outside. Psychologists Jennifer Crocker and Amy Canevello divide our social motivation into two systems. An ecosystem motivation pushes us toward constructive and supportive relationships with others. We see other people as mutually beneficial and not threatening. An egosystem motivation pushes us to relationships with others and groups that allow us to defend or promote our self-image. As they explain, “Constructing, inflating, maintaining, and defending desired self-images becomes a means to satisfy their needs by
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