Development and validation of a measure of individual differences in social comparison orientation (the Iowa-Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure [INCOM]) are described. Assuming that the tendency toward social comparison is universal, the scale was constructed so as to be appropriate to and comparable in 2 cultures: American and Dutch. It was then administered to several thousand people in each country. Analyses of these data are presented indicating that the scale has good psychometric properties. In addition, a laboratory study and several field studies are described that demonstrated the INCOM's ability to predict comparison behavior effectively. Possible uses of the scale in basic and applied settings are discussed.

This article employs interdependence theory as a means of understanding how and why some relationships survive difficult times whereas other promising relationships end. Interdependence theory makes important distinctions between satisfaction and dependence. These distinctions are extended in the investment model, a theory of the process by which individuals become dependent on and committed to their relationships. The investment model suggests that dependence increases not only as a consequence of increasing satisfaction, but also because available alternatives are perceived to be poor and numerous important resources are invested in a relationship. Subjective commitment summarizes the nature of an individual's dependence on a partner, and represents broad, long-term orientation toward a relationship. Strong commitment not only makes individuals more likely to remain with their partners, but also promotes a variety of relationship maintenance behaviors such as adaptive social comparison and perceived relationship superiority, derogation of attractive and threatening alternatives, effective management of jealousy and extrarelationship involvements, willingness to sacrifice for the good of a relationship, and tendencies to accommodate rather than retaliate when a partner behaves poorly.

Research on social comparison processes has assumed that a comparison in a given direction (upward or downward) will lead to a particular affective reaction. In contrast, the present two studies proposed and found that a comparison can produce either positive or negative feelings about oneself, independent of its direction. Several factors moderated the tendency to derive positive or negative affect from upward and downward comparisons. In Study 1, cancer patients low in self-esteem and with low perceived control over their symptoms and illness were more likely to see downward comparisons as having negative implications for themselves. Those low in self-esteem were also more likely to perceive upward comparisons as negative. In Study 2, individuals with high marital dissatisfaction and those who felt uncertain about their marital relationship were more likely to experience negative affect from upward and downward comparisons. The implications of these findings for social comparison theory and for the coping and adaptation literature are discussed.In the seminal work on social comparison, Festinger (1954) suggested that when individuals are uncertain about their opinions or abilities, they will compare themselves with others to evaluate their own situation. Schachter (1959) expanded the domain of social comparison activities to include emotions. In a number of experiments, he showed that fear evoked in most subjects the desire to wait with someone else, preferably an individual in the same situation who reacted with a similar degree of emotional intensity. Schachter reviewed a number of explanations for these findings, but, in line with Festinger's theorizing, clearly favored the idea of self-evaluation. More recently, social comparison theory has been expanded to include motives for social comparison other than self-evaluation, including self-enhancement (eg., restoring one's self-esteem by comparing oneself with others worse off; Wills, 1981), and selfimprovement (eg., seeking a positive example of the domain under evaluation; cf. Wilson & Benner, 1971).The direction of comparison, namely whether one compares to a better-off or worse-off other (termed upward and downward comparisons, respectively), has been a central part of the theory (Latane, 1966). A great deal of research has substantiated that under conditions in which self-evaluation and selfimprovement predominate, individuals prefer to compare thenstate with that of a slightly better-off other (eg, Gruder, 1971;Wheeler, 1966;Wilson & Benner, 1971; see also Wheeler et al., 1969). On the other hand, a substantial body of literature indicates that when a comparison is motivated by self-enhancement, as is the case when self-esteem is threatened, the preferred target of comparison is one who is worse off (Crocker, In this last line of research, differences in comparison target selection have been assumed to derive from differences in the effects of each type of information. In his downward comparison theory, Wills (1981) maintained that, under conditions of t...

Social comparison theory has linked improved performance to both the tendency to compare with others who are performing well and the tendency to view the self as better than others. However, little research has investigated the effects of either variable outside of a controlled laboratory environment. Moreover, there is reason to believe that the 2 tendencies would be in opposition to one another, because people who compare upward might subsequently view themselves as relatively less competent. The results of a longitudinal study of 876 students in their 1st year of secondary education indicated that both variables independently predicted improved academic performance and that these 2 tendencies did not conflict.

In two studies, one among 94 Moroccan and 203 Turkish immigrants in the Netherlands and one among 1844 people of the Dutch majority, we examined how these groups react to four dierent adaptation strategies of people with a Moroccan and a Turkish background. These strategies are: assimilation (original culture is considered unimportant whereas contact with the majority is considered important), integration (both the original culture and contact with the majority are important), separation (original culture is considered important whereas contact with the majority is not), and marginalization (both the original culture and contact with the majority are considered unimportant). The respondents were confronted with a scenario (a ®ctitious newspaper article) representing one of the four strategies. Moroccans and Turks had to indicate whether they identi®ed themselves with the person in the scenario. Their aective and normative reactions towards that person were also measured. Both Moroccans and Turks appeared to react most positively to integration and to identify themselves most with an integrating person. Dutch majority members were asked to estimate the percentage of Moroccans or Turks that use a particular adaptation form, and were also asked to give their aective and normative reactions towards the person in the scenario. The Dutch have positive attitudes towards assimilation and integration. Remarkably, they believe that separation, which is the least liked strategy by them, is the one chosen most frequently by the immigrants. #