Adverse social comparison processes and negative self-feelings: a test of alternative models
Open accessAbstract
Theoretically informed models are estimated that specify the direction of the relationship between social comparisons and negative self-feelings. The data are from three waves of an ongoing longitudinal study of adaptations to stress. Subjects are individuals who were tested in their middle teens (T3), mid-twenties (Time 4) and in their mid-thirties (Time 5). The models were estimated using both logistic regression and ordinary least squares regression. In general, the results suggest that negative self-feelings are an antecedent of social comparison processes as negative self-feelings are significantly related to all five measures of social comparison. Findings suggest that negative self-feelings are sometimes a consequence of social comparison processes as negative self-feelings are significantly related to three of the five measures of social comparison.
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Individuals who are insecure about being accepted are motivated to seek information that may reaffirm their social status, leading to an obsession with social comparisons and other social diagnostic cues.
“Individuals who are insecure about being accepted are motivated to seek information that may reaffirm their social status, leading to an obsession with social comparisons and other social diagnostic cues (27).”
From Does Social Media Use Increase Depressive Symptoms? A Reverse Causation Perspective (2021) · cites this paper as [27]
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“The measure for SSS, the independent variable of special interest, was similar to that used in previously published studies (Dunn, Veenstra, & Ross, 2006; Siahpush et al., 2006; Stiles & Kaplan, 2004; Stiles, Liu, & Kaplan, 2000; Tropp & Wright, 1999; Zagefka & Brown, 2005).”
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“Later research suggests that there is a great deal of diversity in the referent others with whom comparisons are made (Delhey and Kohler, 2006; Stiles and Kaplan, 2004; Suls et al., 2000).”
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“Close peer relationships may provide particularly intensive contexts for observing (at least implicitly) how one’s own behavior stands up relative to others, yielding numerous opportunities for negative self-evaluations (Baumeister, Zhang, & Vohs, 2004; Stiles & Kaplan, 2004 ).”
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“Social comparison theory (Festinger, 1954) and its successor theories predict that self-esteem may vary because of the types of social comparisons an individual makes between the self and available peers (Martinot & Redersdorff, 2006; Mussweiler, 2001, 2003; Stiles & Kaplan, 2004).”
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“…of not doing enough to improve may be the combined result of the exposure to attractive women in advertising and the society-wide accepted notion of responsibility for one’s appearance (Martin and Gentry, 1997; Martin and Kennedy, 1993; Tiggemann and McGill, 2004; Stiles and Kaplan, 2004).”
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“Job satisfaction and happiness have been shown to be related to how the self compares with similar others (Stiles and Kaplan 2004; Clark and Oswald 1996; Luttmer 2005).”
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“Furthermore, social comparison occurs more often among those females who are already experiencing negative self-feelings (Stiles and Kaplan, 2004).”
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“…in the social psychology literature, our confidence in this measure is increased by the fact that it loads on the same latent factor and through its use in previous peer-reviewed studies (Kaplan et al., 2001; Kaplan & Lin, 2000; Kaplan & Lin, 2005; Stiles & Kaplan, 2004; Stiles et al., 2000).”
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“…violence victimization on deviant behavior, (3) the mediating effect of negative affect on sexual victimization and deviant behavior, and (4) if concurrent experiences of anger and depression decrease the risk of deviant behavior (Kaplan & Tolle, 2006; Pals & Kaplan, 2013; Stiles & Kaplan, 2004).”
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“Similarly, Stiles and Kaplan (2004) found that there was no significant difference in the relationship between social comparison and self-efficacy.”
- Authors
- Stiles, B. L., & Kaplan, H. B.
- ORCID
- Stiles, Beverly L.
- Venue
- Social Behavior and Personality An International Journal
- Publisher
- Scientific Journal Publishers Ltd
- Published
- 2004-01-01
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 31-44
- ISSN
- 0301-2212 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1968586506
- Cited by
- 30
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 2 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 2 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 0.93
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Locations
- Social Behavior and Personality An International Journal (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Keywords
- social comparison, self-esteem, self-concept, stress adaptation, life course, adolescence, early adulthood, middle age (human life stage)
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