Anyone who has witnessed a game of hockey or netball might disagree , but men really are more competitive than women , according to a new study . Researchers have discovered that male athletes are more driven by the desire to beat the competition than female athletes . Sportswomen tend to be more committed to aspects of their lives outside sport - such as their academic studies - than their male counterparts , the researchers say . The researchers found that male 5,000 metre runners are more competitive than women . Great Britain 's Mo Farah is pictured above running to victory in the European Athletics Championships in Helsinki , Finland . This may explain why boys are often seen as being more competitive . However , the researchers say that there can be a great deal of individual variability with some women actually showing greater competitive drive than most male athletes . Many reasons have been suggested to explain why women remain poorly represented in senior positions at large companies . Now , a new study may shed light on workplace dynamics , by claiming that while men enjoy competition in the office , women like to be part of a team . The results suggest than men have a dimmer view of their colleagues ’ ability than women and were therefore more keen on competing to be rewarded for their own work , rather than that of a team ’ s . Researchers from CNRS-GATE in Lyon and the University of California , analysed the behaviour of both sexes when the study participants were asked to choose between being paid on their individual performance or as part of a team . They found that less than 11 per cent of men opted for team payment , in comparison to 44 per cent of women . These individuals tend to be far less common in women 's sport , they said . The study could have implications for other areas outside sport , such as in the workplace where greater gender diversity could bring advantages . Professor Robert Deaner , a psychologist at Grand Valley State University in Michigan , said they studied elite runners because it is a sport that is equally popular among men and women and there is no disparity in prize money . He said : 'Of course , we need to be careful not to assume that our running results will generalise to all sports or all domains outside of sports . 'Nevertheless , our findings do echo those from other studies , which show that even when men and women hold the same selective jobs , men are more likely to prioritize competing for recognition and status , while women have more communal orientations . ' The researchers , whose study is published in the journal PeerJ , assessed the competitiveness of 1,147 long distance runners competing in the 5,000 metres in the US National Collegiate Athletic Association . They surveyed each runners motivation for participating , their training volume and their desire to compete at an elite level after college . US tennis player John McEnroe ( above ) was notorious for letting his competitiveness get the better of him . The study found that male long distance runners , like Mo Farrah ( left ) , are more competitive than women , but there are some women , like Paula Radcliffe on the right , who are arguably more competitive than the men . They also compared runners who were competing NCAA 's Division 1 , Division 2 and Division 3 . The researchers found that men were far more competitive at all levels than female runners . The sex difference in competitiveness was also just as large in the fastest runners in Division 1 compared to the slower ones in Division 3 . Professor Deaner said : 'By social science standards , the difference we found - men and women differing by about half a standard deviation on competitiveness measures - is moderate to large . 'But this kind of a difference still means that many of the female runners are more competitive than many of the male runners . ' Writing in the journal the researchers added : 'Women did report greater commitment than men to their academic studies , suggesting a sex difference in priorities . 'Therefore , policies aiming to provide men and women with equal opportunities to flourish should acknowledge that sex differences in some kinds of preferences and motivation may persist even in selective sub-populations . ' Serena Williams is known for her intensely competitive attitude , playing through injury and destroying raquets .
Scientists at Grand Valley State University , Michigan , studied elite runners . They found the men tended to have greater competitive drive than women . Women tend to prioritise other aspects of their lives like academic studies .