The aim of this study is to understand the effect of asymmetric social comparison on subjective well-being, and how it differs due to reciprocity. Our approach considers the social network of individuals as a local reference group. We tested competing hypotheses on negative and positive effects of comparison with worse-off (downward) and better-off (upward) targets with a representative sample of 1,596 Chileans over the age of 18.The findings support that life satisfaction is influenced by social comparison. By considering the social network as a reference group, the positive effect of downward comparison and the negative effect of upward comparison are confirmed. Upward comparison seems to be more substantial than downward comparison. Additionally, the positive effect of downward comparison decreases slightly with a reciprocal exchange of support between respondents and targets. The application of social network analysis opens a path to understanding the mechanisms underlying social comparison processes. Key wordsHappiness; reciprocity; social networks; asymmetric social comparison.3 This study has a threefold aim. First, to estimate the effect that comparison with relevant acquaintances, as identified by each subject, has on the own life satisfaction. Second, to understand how these comparisons work in relation to better or worse-off reference groups (upward and downward comparison, respectively). And third, to examine the influence that reciprocity with those relevant others has on this social comparison. By reciprocity, we understand the mutual exchange of support between the individual and their comparison targets, who are members of their social network. This threefold aim enables us to discuss the theoretical equivalence between the definitions of reference groups for social comparisons. Happiness research has used a wide variety of reference groups, such as classmates (Dijkstra, Kuyper, van der Werf, Buunk and van der Zee, 2008), colleagues (Gätcher, Nosenzo and Sefton, 2012; Gätcher and Thöni, 2010), and proximity of residence in the same city (Götz, Ehret, Jullien and Hall, 2006). However, research on the local dominance effect has shown the preeminence of closer targets in social comparison processes when multiple resources are available (Zell and Alicke, 2010). Despite this wide range of groups, social networks have not so far been considered. To our knowledge, this the first study considering social networks as the reference group of comparison. As we shall see later, the social network is the closest social surrounding of each individual and eventually, a more accessible, concrete, and suitable cognitive reference of comparison.Moreover, this study attempts to understand the cognitive basis of the social comparison process.Previous studies (Ateca-Amestoy et al., 2014;Senik, 2008;McBride, 2001) have been grounded in the analysis of the material life circumstances of a reference group, mainly income. Discussions on income reference groups are a growing field of research with a broad perspective. Senik...

El presente artículo explora los patrones e impacto de la representación mediática del crimen. Para ello, primero nos centramos en discutir la literatura anglosajona sobre la atención mediática de la delincuencia, presentando los resultados de un análisis de contenidos de la prensa chilena e inglesa aplicado en el tercer trimestre del 2003. En la segunda parte de este artículo, examinamos los efectos en las audiencias de esta representación mediática, revisando la evidencia estadística chilena a la luz de la discusión teórica internacional y de los distintos enfoques metodológicos para entender tanto el temor al crimen como el consumo de medios. Palabras clave: temor al crimen, representación del crimen, efecto de los medios de comunicación, consumo de noticias de crimen. The following paper explores the patterns and impact of media representation of crime. It firstly focuses on discussing the research on media attention of delinquency, specifically presenting the findings of a comparative content analysis between the Chilean and British press during the quarter from

Chile and Colombia are two South American countries with political and economic similarities that, during 2019, faced strong social outbursts, which translated into massive street protests and the weakening of their governments. Using data collected in the period immediately prior to the start of this social unrest, this study seeks to establish the role played by strong-tied social media—which are generally homogeneous, formed by close people, and with a high potential for influencing their members—in three phenomena associated with political conflict: (a) perceived political polarization, (b) affective polarization, and (c) non-conventional political participation. To estimate this influence, information collected through surveys in Chile in 2017 and Colombia in 2018 was used within the framework of the Comparative National Elections project. In both countries, probabilistic samples were employed to do face-to-face interviews with samples of over 1,100 people. In both countries, the results show that the use of social media with strong ties, specifically WhatsApp, tends to be related to two of the studied phenomena: perceived political polarization and non-conventional participation. An interaction is also observed between WhatsApp use and political ideology that amplifies the degree of perceived political polarization, affective polarization, and participation in one or both of the countries studied. We conclude by arguing that this dual phenomenon of polarization and participation can be problematic for democracy, since polarized groups (or groups that have the perception that there is ideological polarization in the political elite) tend to consider the position of the rest of the citizens to be illegitimate, thus undermining collective problem-solving.

The aim of this study is to understand the effect of asymmetric social comparison on subjective well-being, and how it differs due to reciprocity. Our approach considers the social network of individuals as a local reference group. We tested competing hypotheses on negative and positive effects of comparison with worse-off (downward) and better-off (upward) targets with a representative sample of 1,596 Chileans over the age of 18. The findings support that life satisfaction is influenced by social comparison. By considering the social network as a reference group, the positive effect of downward comparison and the negative effect of upward comparison are confirmed. Upward comparison seems to be more substantial than downward comparison. Additionally, the positive effect of downward comparison decreases slightly with a reciprocal exchange of support between respondents and targets. The application of social network analysis opens a path to understanding the mechanisms underlying social comparison processes.

The aim of this study is to understand the effect of asymmetric social comparison on subjective well-being, and how it differs due to reciprocity. Our approach considers the social network of individuals as a local reference group. We tested competing hypotheses on negative and positive effects of comparison with worse-off (downward) and better-off (upward) targets with a representative sample of 1,596 Chileans over the age of 18. The findings support that life satisfaction is influenced by social comparison. By considering the social network as a reference group, the positive effect of downward comparison and the negative effect of upward comparison are confirmed. Upward comparison seems to be more substantial than downward comparison. Additionally, the positive effect of downward comparison decreases slightly with a reciprocal exchange of support between respondents and targets. The application of social network analysis opens a path to understanding the mechanisms underlying social comparison processes.