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 posi- tive 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 dis- cussed. In the seminal work on social comparison, Festinger (1954) suggested that when individuals are uncertain about their opin- ions or abilities, they will compare themselves with others to evaluate their own situation. Schachter (1959) expanded the do- main 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