Does Social Comparison Make a Difference? Optimism as a Moderator of the Relation between Comparison Level and Academic Performance
Abstract
Previous research has demonstrated that poor academic performance is associated with a downward shift in preferred level of academic comparison level (ACL). The current study assessed the long-term impact of this downward shift on the academic performance of college students and also examined the extent to which optimism moderated the relation between ACL and performance. Results indicated that a decline in academic performance led to a decline in preferred ACL, but only among students who were low in dispositional optimism. Change in ACL, in turn, was prospectively linked (positively) with change in academic performance for low optimists and marginally for high optimists. Additional analyses suggested this relation was mediated by performance expectations. Finally, change in ACL was also indirectly linked with depression for low optimists. Thus, low optimists who raised their ACLs had higher subsequent grade point averages and experienced a decrease in depression. The relations between levels of preferred comparison and outcome, and possible mediators of these relations, are discussed.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Studies of adolescents find that affiliation with peers who are highly academically competent may produce benefits for academic effort by motivating improvements in academic standards and performance, or by providing models for how to complete challenging academic tasks.
“studies of adolescents find that affiliation with peers who are highly academically competent may, on the one hand, produce benefits for academic effort by motivating improvements in academic standards and performance, or by providing models for how to complete challenging academic tasks, serving as a form of”
From Peer Influences on Academic Motivation: Exploring Multiple Methods of Assessing Youths’ Most “Influential” Peer Relationships (2011) · cites this paper as Gibbons, Blanton, Gerrard, Buunk, & Eggleston, 2000
Cites
Optimism, coping, and health: Assessment and implications of generalized outcome expectancies.
Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (1985) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/0278-6133.4.3.219 · Cited by 6,690 · cited 7× · see citing works
“T2 = Wave 2, T3 = Wave 3, and LOT = Life Orientation Test. a. T2-T3 change in GPA. b.”
MethodInfluentialDownward comparison principles in social psychology
Wills, T. A. (1981) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.90.2.245 · Cited by 2,705 · see citing works
Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (1992) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/bf01173489 · Cited by 2,220 · see citing works
Gibbons, F. X., & Buunk, B. P. (1999) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.76.1.129 · Cited by 1,813 · see citing works
Self-citationFor better or worse: The impact of upward social comparison on self-evaluations
Collins, R. L. (1996) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.119.1.51 · Cited by 1,166 · cited 6× · see citing works
“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).”
BackgroundInfluentialHealth, Coping, and Well-being: Perspectives From Social Comparison Theory
Buunk, B. P. (2013) · doi:10.4324/9780203774106 · Cited by 393 · see citing works
Self-citationBlanton, H., Buunk, B. P., Gibbons, F. X., & Kuyper, H. (1999) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.76.3.420 · Cited by 346 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Blanton, H., Buunk, B. P., Gibbons, F. X., & Kuyper, H. (1999) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.76.3.420 · Cited by 346 · see citing works
Self-citationMolloy, L. E., Gest, S. D., & Rulison, K. L. (2011) · The Journal of Early Adolescence · doi:10.1177/0272431610384487 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
- Authors
- Gibbons, F. X., Blanton, H., Gerrard, M., Buunk, B., & Eggleston, T.
- Affiliations
- Iowa State University (US)
- University of Groningen (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Gibbons, Frederick X.
- Venue
- Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2000-05
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 637-648
- ISSN
- 0146-1672 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-7433
- OpenAlex
- W2130715555
- Cited by
- 93
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 4 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 6.21
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (publishedVersion)
- University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Optimism, Hope, and Well-being
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Education, Achievement, and Giftedness
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Perfectionism, Procrastination, Anxiety Studies
- Keywords
- social comparison, comparison level, academic performance, dispositional optimism, moderation, performance expectations, depression, university students, grade point average
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
