For better or worse: The impact of upward social comparison on self-evaluations

“The tendency to compare oneself with others who are doing better appears to be motivated by both self-improvement strivings and self-enhancement strivings (Collins, 1996; Helgeson & Mickelson, 1995; Taylor, Neter, & Wayment, 1995).”

“While upward comparisons may lead to contrast or identification effects depending on perceived similarity to the comparison target, the effects of downward comparisons have shown to be consistently associated with positive affective consequences (Collins, 1996).”

“In social comparison , defined as a comparison of the self with another standard in order to make a self-judgment (Festinger, 1954), motivational influences such as self-enhancement or self-protection are likely to be involved (Collins, 1996; Wheeler, 1966; Wills, 1981).”

“Furthermore, studies on social comparisons with role models have usually been conducted in laboratory settings (for a review, see Collins, 1996).”

“We suggest that perceived well-performing entrepreneurial parents may produce negative self-evaluations and feelings of dissatisfaction and deprivation in offspring due to children’s perceptions of not being as motivated or capable as their parents (Collins 1996; Gibson 2004).”

“…task versus those on the scale may well extend to other phenomena that are facilitated by social comparison processes, including self-esteem (e.g., Collins, 1996), envy (e.g., Salovey & Rodin, 1986), satisfaction (e.g., Schwartz, Ward, Monterosso, Lyubomirsky, White, & Lehman, 2002), and even the…”

“When making comparisons to others, people may focus on those who perform better (e.g., Collins 1996) or those who perform worse (e.g., Wills 1981).”

“…better than oneself in a positive way by viewing actual or potential similarities between the other and oneself, may help in reducing burnout over time, as better performing others are used as a source of inspiration, learning, and self-improvement (e.g., Collins, 1996; Lockwood & Kunda, 2000).”

“Furthermore, although it has been suggested by various authors that upward comparisons in particular may be beneficial in that they induce positive feelings such as hope, inspiration, and optimism (e.g., Blanton et al., 1999; Buunk & Ybema, 1997; Collins, 1996; Taylor & Lobel, 1989), our findings suggest that upward c…”

“Theories of social comparison, which Roese (1994) suggests are the theoretical origin of the counterfactual thought, provide support for the preparative role of counterfactual thinking (Collins, 1996; Wood, 1999).”

“An upward comparison occurs when an individual compares herself to someone who is perceived as superior on the relevant construct (Collins, 1996).”

“However, when an individual makes an upward comparison to a dissimilar target, negative affect and feelings of inadequacy are triggered, as the individual does not identify with the target and thus, does not believe that the goal of becoming like the target is within reach (Collins 1996; Buunk and Ybema 1997).”

“…high self-value resulting from the favorable social comparisons stimulates positive attitudes and behaviors in employees (e.g., Buunk et al. 1990; Collins 1996; Spence et al. 2011), Spence et al. (2011) found that the positive affect as a consequence of favorable social comparisons also had a…”

“Indeed, research shows that when a self-enhancement motive is activated, people engage more readily in downward social comparisons to bolster their feelings of self-worth (Collins, 1996; Sedikides & Strube, 1997; Taylor & Brown, 1988).”

“, 2001; Festinger, 1954; Miller & Suls, 1977; Wheeler, 1966), and are also in line with recent statements that underline the predominant role of upward comparisons for motivation and inspiration (e.g., Buunk & Ybema, 1997; Collins, 1996; Lockwood & Kunda, 1997).”

“Likewise, at the individual level, it has been suggested that making (or not avoiding) an unfavorable interpersonal comparison may serve self-enhancement goals indirectly through self-improvement (e.g., Collins, 1996).”

“Perceived similarity is akin to the subjective assessment of closeness, shared circumstances or attainment likelihood (e.g., Collins, 1996; Lockwood & Kunda, 1997; Tesser, Millar, & Moore, 1988), which is tied to beliefs about the degree one is currently (or likely to become) like the target.”

“3) Negative self‐appraisals, based on previous psychological theoretical accounts of self‐discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987) and social comparison (Collins, 1996), which suggests that consumer‐oriented media portraying unattainable ideals leads to lower well‐being, because individuals use these unreachable standards w…”

“Although factors such as task relevance, similarity to the comparison target, cognitive load, and perceived control moderate the effects of upward and downward comparisons on self-evaluations (for reviews, see Blanton, 2001; Collins, 1996; Mussweiler & Strack, 2000), it seems safe to say that people generally evaluate…”

“To understand the first factor, the importance of the processing mindset, one has to acknowledge that a comparative judgment can be conceptualized as similar to hypothesis testing (Collins, 1996; Mussweiler, 2003).”

“Research on the relationship between the motivation for social comparison and low mood (e.g., dysphoria, low self-esteem) has yielded inconsistent results (for a review, see Collins, 1996).”

“However, individuals engage in these detrimental upward comparisons only, or mainly, if the comparison involves characteristics that are psychologically meaningful and important to them (Collins, 1996; Trampe, Stapel, and Siero, 2007).”

“…to others e making an upward comparison (Gibbons & Gerrard, 1989; Lockwood & Kunda, 1997) said to form part of the drive to selfimprovement (Collins, 1996), or they can compare themselves favourably to others, making downward comparisons that can be used to restore threatened self-esteem…”

“( Collins, 1996 ) and in combination with the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect (Marsh, Kong, & Hau, 2000) – the phenomenon that a student in a high achieving class is more likely to develop a lower self-concept than an equally able student in a low achieving class.”

“…performance by inspiring (Lockwood & Kunda, 1997; Tesser, 1986), improving self-evaluation, increasing motivation (Blanton, Crocker, & Miller, 2000; Collins, 1996; Major, Sciacchitano, & Crooker, 1993; Taylor & Lobel, 1989) and even impacting student's academic goals (Hackett, 1985; Lockwood &…”

“…i-deals convey strong signals about the i-dealer’s competence (Ho & Kong, 2015; Hornung et al., 2008), and because competence is one of the most prominent attributes for (upward) social comparison (Collins, 1996), such i-deals are particularly likely to be the basis of comparison among coworkers.”

“However, when the target’s abilities are seen as relevant and attainable, upward comparisons are more likely to lead to positive affective responses—hope and inspiration in particular (see Collins, 1996; Lockwood & Kunda, 1997, 2000).”

“…of social comparison theory, the bulk of empirical literature has focused on how people socially compare in order to obtain information and to feel good about their abilities and personal attributes (e.g., Dunning & Hayes, 1996; Taylor & Lobel, 1989; see Collins, 1996; Wood, 1989, for reviews).”

“Such upward comparisons can serve as a guide to selfimprovement, providing an example of the accomplishments for which one can strive and a template of behaviors needed to achieve such success (Collins, 1996; Taylor & Lobel, 1989; Taylor, Wayment, & Carillo, 1996; Wood, 1989).”

“, comparison with those who we believe are better off).(29,30) Festinger, however, proposed that individuals have ‘‘a unidirectional drive upward’’; people generally prefer to compare themselves with others who are better off.”

“Regarding the former, it is thought that observing others who are doing well can be inspirational (Brickman & Bulman, 1977; Collins, 1996; Lockwood & Kunda, 1997; Molleman, Pruyn, & van Knippenberg, 1986).”

“For example, social comparison with a committed partner or family member might differentially affect people’s mood and motivation compared with social comparison with strangers or acquaintances (e.g., R. L. Collins, 1996).”

“Social comparison researchers have generally focused on motivational determinants such as relevance to the self (Tesser, 1988), future prospects (Aspinwall, 1997; Lockwood & Kunda, 1997), and controllability (Testa & Major, 1990), among others (for reviews, see Collins, 1996; Taylor & Lobel, 1989).”

“In addition, outperforming both social reference points may increase the division managers’ confidence and produce an upward striving goal (Baum & Lant, 2003; Collins, 1996; Lant, 1992; Levinthal & March, 1981).”

“Taylor and Lobel (1989) show that people search for information from those higher in the rank order, while Collins (1996), reviewing empirical studies, similarly find widespread evidence of this type of upward comparison.”

“A second advantage is that most research on gender and upward comparisons is conducted in the laboratory with college students as subjects (see reviews in Collins 1996, Miller 1984, Wood 1989).”

“…illustrates the excellence that they may be able to achieve in the future (cf. Aspinwall, 1997; Buunk, Collins, Taylor, Van Yperen, & Dakof, 1990; Collins, 1996; Taylor & Lobel, 1989; Taylor, Wayment & Carillo, 1996; Wood, 1989); at other times, they may try to motivate themselves by focusing on…”

“People differ, however, in the importance they assign to different aspects of the self (Buunk, Collins, Taylor, VanYperen, & Dakof, 1990; Collins, 1996; Taylor & Lobel, 1989), and such differences may account for inconsistencies observed in women’s responses to ideal media images (e.”

“After more than four decades of research (see Collins, 1996; Festinger, 1954; Suls & Miller, 1977; Suls & Wills, 1991; Wood, 1989), social comparison theory can be said to be in this third and final stage.”

“Learning that one underperformed creates negative emotions and motivates one to change the behavior that contributed to the inferior performance (Collins, 1996).”

“…help students see the similarity between their present self and the future with a college degree; after all, these role models may indicate particular goals for which an admirer should aim, and suggest the road that one should follow to achieve those goals (Collins, 1996; Lockwood & Kunda, 1997).”

“Future studies among patients who have been more recently diagnosed may shed further light on the relative influence of situational factors such as the vividness of the comparison information or the similarity to the comparison other (see Buunk & Ybema, 1997; Collins, 1996 ) and individual difference variables such as…”

“…(1954) social comparison theory proposed that upward social comparisons will be mostly avoided due to their self-deflating effect, although Collins (1996) argued that upward social comparisons can be consistent with the desire for positive self-regard, through self-improvement and…”

“Although there are some benefits for upward social comparisons, such as being inspired to improve 40 or making people believe that they are part of an elite or superior group, 41 it may lead to some negative consequences.”

“Specifically, upward social comparisons (“someone else did better than me”) typically make one feel worse (Collins, 1996), whereas downward social comparisons (“someone else did worse than me”) typically make one feel better (Suls, Martin, & Wheeler, 2002).”

“In addition, social comparisons elicit repercussions on self-evaluation (Collins, 1996) andmay be associated with either positive or negative feelings. For example, Lee (2014) reported a positive correlation between frequency of social comparison on Facebook and the elicitation of negative feelings. More specifically,…”

“This work has both theoretical (e.g., Collins, 1996) and practical implications.”

“Perceived similarity between targets and social standards has been tied to the subjective assessment of shared circumstances with the comparison standard (Collins, 1996).”