Upward Persistence and Downward Desistence: Some Reactions to Social-Comparison Deprivation after a Threat

2001 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 112-122
Author(s):  
Nicolas Michinov ◽  
Louis Bavent

Laboratory and field research has shown that people prefer either downward or upward comparison after a threatening experience. Downward comparison is generally used to protect self-esteem immediately after a threat. It can be regarded as a short-term self-protection strategy. Upward comparison is often used to see whether it is possible to improve a situation by finding similarities with more fortunate people. It can be regarded as a long-term self-improvement strategy. It was assumed here that deprivation of downward and upward comparison after a threat would generate different degrees of interest and persistence in making social comparisons. More specifically, we expected social comparison persistence to be greater after upward-comparison deprivation than after downward-comparison deprivation or no deprivation at all, especially with superior others. The results of two studies supported our predictions and are discussed in several theoretical frameworks.

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 1069-1097 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marian M. Morry ◽  
Kenny C. Chee ◽  
Trinda L. Penniston ◽  
Tamara A. Sucharyna

How individuals interpret a relationship social comparison is important to their relationship quality. We asked whether relationship social comparison interpretations (RSCIs) differ from relationship attributions. Individuals were randomly assigned to compare their dating relationship to a friend’s relationship that was doing better (upward comparison) or worse (downward comparison) than their own. Individuals then completed measures for the RSCI and attributions for their own relationship success/failure (Study 1) and attributions for their friend’s relationship success/failure (Study 2). Correlations indicated that the RSCI and attributions were not isomorphic. Simultaneous regressions indicated that the RSCI was a more consistent predictor of relationship quality than were attributions. How individuals interpret social comparisons not just the comparison direction should be studied.


2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-19
Author(s):  
Delia Cristina Balaban ◽  
Dorin Francisc Spoaller

"During the Spring of 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, several countries ordered lockdowns. The limitations of movement contributed to the rise of social media activity. The present research focused on how the active use of Instagram had an impact on well-being during the first lockdown in Romania. Aiming to explore how active Instagram use contributes to users' self-esteem, satisfaction with life, and loneliness during an unprecedented situation of a lockdown, we conducted an online survey in April 2020 on young adults (N=411) in Romania. Findings showed that actively using Instagram during the lockdown did not have a significant direct impact on self-esteem and satisfaction with life, but significantly decreased loneliness. Upward comparison of Instagram active users contributed to the increase in self-esteem but decreased the values of satisfaction with life and increased loneliness. The downward comparison had no significant impact on self-esteem, satisfaction with life, and loneliness. Keywords: social media, well-being, Instagram, social comparison, COVID-19 pandemic. "


2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 493-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin P. Riley ◽  
Michelle Bezanson

Field primatologists have ethical responsibilities that extend beyond study subjects to the local human communities living near primate populations and their surrounding ecosystems. In this review, we explore the history of ethical discussions within anthropological primatology and examine the best practices for an ethically engaged primatology that should be followed and role-modeled by primatologists. An increasing number of primates are showing reduced population sizes and are in imminent danger of extinction; thus, we need to carefully consider the ethics of intervening to ensure the survival of remaining populations, the impact of anthropogenic factors (e.g., climate change), and whether long-term field research results in conservation outcomes that consider local human communities. Because best practices change over time as theoretical frameworks and methodological tools advance and scientific goals change, field primatologists must continually reflect on what constitutes ethical practice and consider how research influences the overlapping dimensions of fieldwork: primates, people, and ecosystems.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-119
Author(s):  
Leonid Levit

В статье исследуется соотношение трёх главных человеческих ценностей – истины, добра и кра­соты. Критический анализ известных философских положений проводится с использованием результатов, полученных в современных экспериментальных исследованиях. В частности, обсуждается противоречие между требованием о приоритете истины перед добром в ситуации конфликта между этими ценностями и воздействием позитивных иллюзий, выявленных современной нейронаукой и свойственных функцио­ни­ро­ванию человеческого мозга. Так, широко распространен эффект «ложной уникальности», при котором че­ловек переоценивает собственные (точнее, высоко желаемые) позитивные качества и недооценивает нега­тивные. Массовая приверженность индивидов заблуждениям относительно величины своего внутреннего по­тенциала, наличия глубоко скрытых ресурсов в сочетании со стремлением поддержать высокую само­оцен­ку ведут к искажению проводимых социальных сравнений. Автор доказывает, что придание добру боль­шей значимости в сравнении с истиной неминуемо ведёт к последующей победе зла над добром. По­добное происходит в связи с большей доступностью и привлекательностью «неистинного» добра перед «ис­тинным». Главное преимущество опоры на истину заключается в её умении распознавать и отделять дол­го­вре­менные разновидности добра от его краткосрочных (как правило, гедонистически ориен­ти­ро­ванных) вариантов, нередко оборачивающихся злом в более отдалённой перспективе. Настоящее (истин­ное) добро, как правило, требует приложения первоначальных усилий, однако приносит пользу в течение длительного времени и оборачивается другими полезными эффектами. В конце статьи приводятся практические рекомендации, а также личный опыт автора, позволяющие информированному индивиду организовать собственное мышление и поведение с учётом выявленных закономерностей.     The article investigates the ratio between the main three human values – the truth, the good and the beauty. The analysis of the well-known philosophical postulates is conducted with the help of the results obtained in modern experimental researches. In particular, the author discusses the contradiction between the demand of the truth priority if the latter gets in conflict with the good, and the influence of the positive illusions, discovered by modern neuroscience and peculiar to human brain functioning. Thus the wide-spread effect of false uniqueness makes a person to overestimate her own (in fact highly wished) positive traits of character and underestimate negative ones. Mass proneness to the beliefs about individual inner potential and deeply seated resources combined with the desire of high self-esteem lead to the wrong social comparisons. The author of the paper proves that the priority of the good in comparison with the truth inevitably causes the situation, in which the evil defeats the good. This occurs because the untrue good is more easily achieved and utilized than the true good. On the contrary, the main advantage of the priority of the truth is the ability to discern and make distinctions between long-term forms of the good and its short-term (as a rule, hedonistically oriented) variants, which often turn to evil in the future perspective. As a rule, the genuine (true) good demands some efforts from an individual at first, but brings benefits and numerous useful effects for much longer periods of time. At the end of the paper, the author gives practical recommendations and shares his personal experience, which can help the informed individual to organize his own thinking and behavior with the help of the discovered regularities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 791-800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ethan Zell ◽  
Jason E. Strickhouser

People often consider how their performance in one domain compares to their performance in other domains, the performance of other people, and their past performance (i.e., dimensional, social, and temporal comparison). The present research is the first to test whether social comparisons have a significantly larger effect on self-evaluations than dimensional and temporal comparisons. Study 1 participants received downward versus upward dimensional, social, and temporal comparison feedback ( N = 393). Study 2 participants received downward versus upward comparison feedback for one type and lateral comparisons for the other two types ( N = 281). Dimensional and social comparison significantly influenced self-evaluations and affective reactions in both studies. As anticipated, however, social comparison had a significantly larger effect on self-evaluations and affective reactions than either dimensional or temporal comparison. These data provide novel, causal evidence for the primacy of social comparison when people receive three feedback types.


2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (13) ◽  
pp. 1743-1748
Author(s):  
Danielle Arigo ◽  
Kyle Haggerty

Little is known about social influences on long-term rehabilitation outcomes for traumatic brain injury, particularly social comparisons (i.e. self-evaluations relative to others). Patients in long-term rehabilitation ( n = 31) completed assessments at baseline and 1 year. Self-reported social comparison orientation was comparable to existing samples and showed stability over 1 year; affective responses to comparisons (e.g. frustration) were less stable. Social comparison orientation and affective responses were related to baseline executive and psychosocial functioning ( rs = 0.34–0.53) and predicted worse impairment and depression at 1 year ( ds = 0.67, 1.39). Greater attention to comparisons in long-term rehabilitation could improve outcomes.


Author(s):  
Vera Ćubela

This paper presents a review of some basic theories and empirical findings about the social comparison processes. Festinger’s theory of social comparison processes was not just the first attempt to systematically elaborate the role of these processes in self-evaluation, but remains also one of the most cited references in social comparison literature. After Festinger’s pioneering work, two basic lines in the development of this research area could be distinguished. The first line, which is based on Festinger’s basic assumption that people compare to others primarily when objective standards for self- evaluation are unavailable, is characterised by the research focus on the preference for specific directions of self-evaluative social comparisons and the relative importance in self-evaluation of social comparison and other types of comparisons, such as temporal comparisons. The second, more recent one, focused more on the consequences and the motives of social comparison, especially on the self-enhancement motive. It was established that these comparison processes are related to other motives as well (e. g. self-protection, self-improvement etc), and that, in addition to comparison direction and motives, the consequences of social comparison also depend on some other factors, such as an individual’s self-esteem level, personal control, his/her perceived closeness and similarity with comparison target, the nature of the comparison dimension etc. The last part of this paper presents an overview of the main methodological approaches in social comparison research, including some useful suggestions for the researchers with regard to some particular procedures and techniques for the assessment of social comparisons.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Olivos ◽  
Pablo Olivos-Jara ◽  
Magdalena Browne

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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Reichert ◽  
Monica Miller

To combat rising rates of childhood obesity in the U.S. requires helping parents recognize when their child is overweight or obese. However, parents’ accuracy might be affected by social comparisons, in which parents compare their child to other overweight children, and rationalize that their child is ‘normal’ weight, and therefore, healthy. The aim of the study was to assess whether a photograph of a fictional child impacts a parent’s judgment of their own child’s weight. A nationwide sample of parents (n=517) of children ages 2-12 provided their child’s height and weight, viewed a photograph of an underweight (upward comparison), normal weight (control) or overweight (downward comparison) child, and judged the health of both. Parents inaccurately judged the downward comparison compared to the control and upward comparisons. Further, parents were less accurate in judging their child’s weight when given an upward comparison compared to a control. Intentions to control their children’s weight were unaffected.


2001 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 427-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Michinov

It has been assumed that engaging in upward or downward comparison can either improve or deteriorate affect, depending on the amount of control individuals feel they have over the comparison dimension. The main goal of the present study was to determine whether an individual difference factor such as the sense of control can moderate the relationship between social comparison and affect. The results showed that for downward comparison, the lower the participants scored on the sense of control, the higher the negative affect they experienced. Unexpectedly, the sense of control was unrelated to affect in upward comparison. Additional results indicated that identification with the comparison targets had an impact on negative affect. This study provides evidence that the sense of control may be useful in understanding affective reactions to social comparisons. The theoretical implications in downward comparison theory are discussed.


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