The affective consequences of social comparison: Either direction has its ups and downs.

Abstract

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...

Keeping up with the Joneses: A field study of the relationships among upward, lateral, and downward comparisons and pay level satisfaction.

“…Adding the upward comparison increased the variance explained to 25%, ⌬R 2 ϭ . 13, F(1, 58) (Buunk, Taylor, Dakof, Collins, & Van Yperen, 1990).…”

Calidad de vida: Una revisión teórica del concepto

“…Estudios iniciales indican una relación entre la variable OCS con los dominios social, físico y psicológico de la CV, no obstante, la varianza explicada de estos dominios por la OCS es baja (Urzúa, Castillo, Gemmel & Campos, 2010). Pese a esto, algunos estudios han referido posibles consecuencias en la esfera afectiva y en el bienestar psicológico derivado de las posibles formas de compararnos con otros (Buunk, Collins, Dakof, Taylor & VanYperen, 1990;Buunk, Gibbons, Belmonte, Peiró & Zurriaga, 2005;Buunk, Ybema, Gibbons & Ipenburg, 2001;Michinov, 2007). En este sentido, aquellos que tienden a compararse hacia arriba presentan mayores efectos negativos en sus afectos (Buunk, 2006;Buunk, Peiró, Rodríguez & Bravo, 2006), en tanto aquellos que se comparan hacia abajo, podrían generar mayor efecto positivo, especialmente cuando la persona que se compara está sometida a estrés o morbilidad (Buunk, 2006;Buunk & Ybema, 1997;Friedswijk, Buunk, Steverink & Slaets, 2004;Gibbons & alfonso urzúa m. & alEjandra caQuEo-urízar Buunk, 1999;Gibbons, Gerrard, Lando & McGovern 1991;Taylor, Wood & Lichtman, 1985; Van der Zee, Buunk & Sanderman, 1998;Van Yperen, Brenninkmeijer & Buunk, 2006;Wheeler & Miyake, 1992).…”

“Still the same and better off than others?”: social and temporal comparisons in old age

“…This characteristic gets special importance for comparison activity in old age, given that self-esteem is clearly at risk of decline in the elderly (Trzesniewski et al 2004). Buunk et al (1990) showed that the two directions of upward and downward social comparison are not intrinsically linked to affect and that under certain conditions both are capable of generating positive or negative affective responses. They argue that an upward comparison provides the information (a) that one is not as well off as everyone and (b) that it is possible to be better than at the present time.…”