The affective consequences of social comparison: Either direction has its ups and downs.

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 2 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 positive 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 discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Burnout and inequity among human service professionals: A longitudinal study.

In a composite sample of human service professionals (N?=?245), longitudinal relations across 1 year were tested between equity in the professional–recipient relationship and burnout (i.e., emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment). The 1st research question was whether inequity influenced burnout across time. The 2nd research question was whether longitudinal relations between equity and burnout were curvilinear, as predicted by equity theory. The results confirmed that inequity affects the central component of burnout (i.e., emotional exhaustion) and that this relation is curvilinear. Feeling more deprived and feeling more advantaged resulted in higher future emotional exhaustion levels. No indication was found for a longitudinal relation between inequity and depersonalization. A synchronous relation was found suggesting that personal accomplishment influences equity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conflicting preferences of parents and offspring over criteria for a mate: A study in Argentina.

Current evolutionary research on human mating has largely ignored the fact that mating decisions may be heavily influenced by parents. Recent research, however, shows that parents and children may have conflicting mate preferences. Specifically, parents tend to have a relatively stronger preference for children to pair with mates with characteristics signaling high parental investment and cooperation with the in-group, whereas children tend to have a relatively stronger preference to pair with mates with characteristics signaling genetic quality. The present research among 242 young adults from Argentina showed that in this country the same parent–offspring conflict was observed as had been found previously in North America, the Netherlands, Uruguay, and Kurdistan. This result provides additional support for the universal character of this type of conflict. In addition, the present research expanded previous work by showing that the two conflict dimensions were indeed psychometrically independent, and that more conflict was reported by older and married participants. In addition, more conflict was reported among women who were more in favor of parental control over mate choice and among men who were higher in social comparison orientation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Inhibitory effects of drinker and nondrinker prototypes on adolescent alcohol consumption.

This prospective study examined the relation between 308 adolescents' images of typical drinkers and nondrinkers and their subsequent alcohol consumption. The results indicate that both images are associated with changes in consumption between ages 16 and 18 but that they operate in different ways. Contrary to previous assumptions, drinker images do not represent goal states for adolescents in that they are more negative than their self-images and nondrinker images and are not correlated with their ideal selves. In contrast, nondrinker images do appear to represent goal states for adolescents who abstain from drinking. Implications for intervention are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When It Is Better to Give Than to Receive: Long-Term Health Effects of Perceived Reciprocity in Support Exchange.

The authors examined esteem enhancement theory and equity theory in explaining the long-term health status of men (n = 178) and women (n = 575). Baseline characteristics were measured in 1990-1993, intimate reciprocity in 1993, and recorded sickness absences for a 9-year period during 1993-2001. Among women, giving more support than receiving in intimate relationships positively affected subsequent health status, as indicated by fewer sickness absences. Among men, receiving more support than giving predicted fewer absences. These effects remained even after significant covariates were included in the model. Thus, women seem to benefit from giving support in intimate relationships, and men seem to benefit from receiving support in intimate relationships. The findings on women are in line with the esteem enhancement theory. No support was obtained for the equity theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parent-offspring conflict in mate preferences.

Prevailing evolutionary approaches to human mating have largely ignored the fact that mating decisions are heavily influenced by parents and other kin. This is significant because parents and children often have conflicting mate preferences. We provide a brief review of how parents have influenced their children's mating behavior across cultures and throughout history. Then, by drawing on evolutionary reasoning, we offer a hypothesis for why parents and offspring may have conflicting interests with respect to mate preferences. Specifically, parents may have a relatively stronger preference for children's mates with characteristics suggesting high parental investment and cooperation with the ingroup, whereas children may have a relatively stronger preference for mates with characteristics signaling heritable fitness. We review past research consistent with this hypothesis, and we report new results from an empirical study consisting of 768 participants from a variety of cultures that provided clear support for the hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social loafing under fatigue

In 2 experiments, 64 male students worked almost continuously for 20 hr without sleep under varying social conditions. In Experiment 1, participants worked either individually or as a group. As hypothesized, performance deteriorated over time, especially in the group condition, which allowed participants to loaf. In Experiment 2, all participants worked in groups. They were instructed that public feedback would be provided either on the group result only or on the individual results of all group members. As expected, when individual results were made public, performance deteriorated less. Overall, the data suggest that fatigue increases social loafing. However, both individualizing the task and providing public individual feedback seem to counteract these effects.     

When better-than-others compare upward: Choice of comparison and comparative evaluation as independent predictors of academic performance.

Social comparison theory has linked improved performance to both the tendency to compare with others who are performing well and the tendency to view the self as better than others. However, little research has investigated the effects of either variable outside of a controlled laboratory environment. Moreover, there is reason to believe that the 2 tendencies would be in opposition to one another, because people who compare upward might subsequently view themselves as relatively less competent. The results of a longitudinal study of 876 students in their 1st year of secondary education indicated that both variables independently predicted improved academic performance and that these 2 tendencies did not conflict. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Effect of Social Comparison Information on the Life Satisfaction of Frail Older Persons.

In this study, the authors examined the effects of social comparison on the life satisfaction of 455 community-dwelling older persons. These older persons were confronted with a fictitious interview with either an upward or a downward target. After downward comparison, older persons felt more satisfied with their lives than after upward comparison, especially those who had higher levels of frailty. These effects were only found with lower levels of identification. Apparently, downward comparison only serves its self-enhancing function on life satisfaction among frail older persons when they perceive the comparison target as different from themselves. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)