Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Consequences of Social Comparison

Selective Accessibility, Assimilation, and Contrast

  • Chapter
Handbook of Social Comparison

Part of the book series: The Springer Series in Social Clinical Psychology ((SSSC))

Abstract

Almost all our achievements are relative, in that their merit depends on the achievements of others. This becomes especially clear in situations that are competitive in nature. For example, Sammy Sosa may be proud of the fact that he hit 66 homeruns in 1998, and thus surpassed the old record by a margin of 5. However, it may be difficult for him not to compare his 66 to the 70 home runs hit by Mark McGuire in the very same season. Similarly, you may be fairly content with your own athletic achievements, but still, after signing up for a competitive sports event, will probably start to compare your abilities to those of your rivals. What do you think would be the consequences of such comparisons? Would they make you feel better or worse? Would they change your own evaluation of your qualities? Would they boost or sabotage your performance?

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 189.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aspinwall, L. G., & Taylor, S. E. (1993). Effects of social comparison direction, threat, and self-esteem on affect, self-evaluation, and expected success. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 708–722.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bargh, J. A. (1997). The automaticity of everyday life. In R. S. Wyer (Ed.), Advances in social cognition (Vol. 10, pp. 1–61). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bargh, J. A., Chen, M., & Burrows, L. (1996). Automaticity of social behavior: Direct effects of trait construct and stereotype activation on action. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 230–244.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Berkowitz, L. (1984). Some effects of thoughts on anti-and prosocial influences of media events: A cognitive-neoassociation analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 410–427.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Biernat, M., & Manis, M. (1994). Shifting standards and stereotype-based judgments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 5–20.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Biernat, M., Manis, M., & Kobrynowicz, D. (1997). Simultaneous assimilation and contrast effects in judgments of self and others. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 254–269.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Biernat, M., Manis, M., & Nelson, T. E. (1991). Stereotypes and standards of judgment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 485–499.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brewer, M. B., & Weber, J. G. (1994). Self-evaluation effects of interpersonal versus intergroup social comparison. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 268–275.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, D. R. (1953). Stimulus-similarity and the anchoring of subjective scales. American Journal of Psychology, 66, 199–214.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J. D., Novick, N. J., Lord, K. A., & Richards, J. M. (1992). When Gulliver travels: Social context, psychological closeness, and self-appraisals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62(5), 717-727.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buunk, B. P., Collins, R. L., Taylor, S. E., VanYperen, N. W., & Dakof, G. A. (1990). The affective consequences of social comparison: Either direction has its ups and downs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 1238–1249.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carlston, D. E. (1994). Associated systems theory: A systematic approach to cognitive representations of persons. In R. S. Wyer, Jr. (Ed.), Advances is social cognition (pp. 1–78). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carver, C. S., Ganellen, R. J., Framing, W. J., & Chambers, W. (1983). Modeling: An analysis in terms of category accessibility. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 19, 403–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cash, T. F., Cash, D., & Butters, J. W. (1983). “Mirror, mirror, on the wall…?”: Contrast effects and self-evaluations of physical attractiveness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 9(3), 351–358.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chartrand, T. L., & Bargh, J. A. (1996). Automatic activation of impression formation and memorization goals: Nonconscious goal priming reproduces effects of explicit task instructions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 464–478.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, M., & Bargh, J. A. (1997). Nonconscious confirmation processes: The self-fulfilling consequences of automatic stereotype activation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 33, 541–560.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins, R. L. (1996). For better or worse: The impact of upward social comparison on self-evaluations. Psychological Bulletin, 119(1), 51–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeVellis, R. F., Blalock, S. J., Holt, K., Renner, B. R., Blanchard, L. W., & Klotz, M. L. (1991). Arthritis patients’ reactions to unavoidable social comparison. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 17, 392–399.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dijksterhuis, A., Spears, R., Postmes, T., Stapel, D. A., Koomen, W., van Knippenberg, A., & Scheepers, D. (1998). Seeing one thing and doing another: Contrast effects in automatic behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 862–871.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dijksterhuis, A., & van Knippenberg, A. (1998). The relation between perception and behavior, or how to win a game of Trivial Pursuit. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(4), 865–877.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Festinger, L. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7, 117–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibbons, F. X., & Gerrard, M. (1989). Effects of upward and downward social comparison on mood states. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 8, 14–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goethals, G. R., & Darley, J. M. (1977). Social comparison theory: An attributional approach. In J. M. Suls & R. L. Miller (Eds.), Social comparison processes: Theoretical and empirical perspectives (pp. 259–278). Washington, DC: Hemisphere.

    Google Scholar 

  • Helson, H. (1964). Adaptation level theory: An experimental and systematic approach to behavior. New York: Harper.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herr, P. M. (1986). Consequences of priming: Judgment and behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1106–1115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Higgins, E. T. (1989). Knowledge accessibility and activation: Subjectivity and suffering from unconscious sources. In J. S. Uleman & J. A. Bargh (Eds.), Unintended thought (pp. 75–123). New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Higgins, E. T. (1996). Knowledge activation: Accessibility, applicability, and salience. In E. T. Higgins & A. W. Kruglanski (Eds.), Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles (pp. 133–168). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Higgins, E. T., & Brendl, C. M. (1995). Accessibility and applicability: Some “activation rules” influencing judgment. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 31, 218–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Higgins, E. T., Rholes, W. S., & Jones, C. R. (1977). Category accessibility and impression formation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 13, 141–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1972). Subjective probability: A judgment of representativeness. Cognitive Psychology, 3, 430–454.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klayman, J., & Ha, Y. W. (1987). Confirmation, disconfirmation, and information in hypotheses testing. Psychological Review, 94, 211–228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koehler, D. J. (1991). Explanation, imagination, and confidence in judgment. Psychological Bulletin, 110, 499–519.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lockwood, P., & Kunda, Z. (1997). Superstars and me: Predicting the impact of role models on the self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 91–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manis, M., & Paskewitz, J. R. (1984). Specifity in contrast effects: Judgments of psychopathology. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 20, 217–230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, L. L. (1986). Set/reset: Use and disuse of concepts in impression formation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 493–504.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, L. L., & Achee, J. W. (1992). Beyond accessibility: The role of processing objectives in judgment. In L. L. Martin & A. Tesser (Eds.), The construction of social judgment (pp. 252–271). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • McMullen, M. N. (1997). Affective contrast and assimilation in counterfactual thinking. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 33, 77–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miyake, K., & Zuckerman, M. (1993). Beyond personality impressions: Effects of physical and vocal attractiveness on false consensus, social comparison, affiliation, and assumed and perceived similarity. Journal of Personality, 61, 411–437.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Morse, S., & Gergen, K. J. (1970). Social comparison, self-consistency, and the concept of self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 16, 148–156.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Muss weiler, T. (1997). A selective accessibility model of anchoring: Linking the anchoring heuristic to hypothesis-consistent testing and semantic priming. Lengerich, Germany: Pabst.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mussweiler, T., & Förster, J. (2000). The sex-aggression link: A perception-behavior dissociation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, in press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mussweiler, T., & Strack, F. (1999a). Hypothesis-consistent testing and semantic priming in the anchoring paradigm: A selective accessibility model. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 35, 136–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mussweiler, T., & Strack, F. (1999b). Comparing is believing: A selective accessability model of judgmental anchoring. In W. Stroebe & M. Hewstone (Eds.), European review of social psychology (Vol. 10, pp. 135–167). Chichester, England: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mussweiler, T., & Strack, F. (2000a). The use of category and exemplar knowledge in the solution of anchoring tasks. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 1038–1052.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mussweiler, T., & Strack, F. (2000b). The relative self: Informational and judgmental consequences of comparative self-evaluation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mussweiler, T., & Strack, F. (2000c). Unpublished data. University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neely, J. H. (1991). Semantic priming effects in visual word recognition: A selective review of current findings and theories. In D. Besner & G. W. Humphreys (Eds.), Basic processes in reading (pp. 264–337). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nosanchuk, T. A., & Erickson, B. H. (1985). How high is up? Calibrating social comparison in the real world. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 624–634.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ostrom, T. M., & Upshaw, H. S. (1968). Psychological perspectives and attitude change. In A. G. Greenwald, T. C. Brock, & T. M. Ostrom (Eds.), Psychological foundations of attitudes (pp. 217–242). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pelham, B. W., & Wachsmuth, J. O. (1995). The waxing and waning of the social self: Assimilation and contrast in social comparison. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 825–838.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prinz, W. (1990). A common coding approach to perception and action. In O. Neumann & W. Prinz (Eds.), Relationships between perception and action: Current approaches (pp. 167–201). Berlin: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Reis, T. J., Gerrard, M., & Gibbons, F. X. (1993). Social comparison and the pill: Reactions to upward and downward comparison of contraceptive behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 19, 13–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salovey, P., & Rodin, J. (1984). Some antecedents and consequences of social comparison jealousy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 780–792.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwarz, N., & Bless, H. (1992). Constructing reality and its alternatives: An inclusion/exclusion model of assimilation and contrast effects in social judgment. In H. Martin & A. Tesser (Eds.), The construction of social judgment (pp. 217–245). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sedikides, C., & Skowronski, J. J. (1991). The law of cognitive structure activation. Psychological Inquiry, 2, 169–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seta, J. J. (1982). The impact of comparison processes on coactors’ task performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42, 281–291.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Srull, T. K., & Wyer, R. S. (1979). The role of category accessibility in the interpretation of information about persons: Some determinants and implications. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 1660–1672.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strack, F. (1992). The different routes to social judgments: Experiential versus informational strategies. In L. L. Martin & A. Tesser (Eds.), The construction of social judgment (pp. 249–275). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strack, F., & Mussweiler, T. (1997). Explaining the enigmatic anchoring effect: Mechanisms of selective accessibility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 437–446.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strack, F., Schwarz, N., & Gschneidinger, E. (1985). Happiness and reminiscing: The role of time perspective, affect, and mode of thinking. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 1460–1469.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, S. E., Wayment, H. A., & Carrillo, M. (1996). Social comparison, self-regulation, and motivation. In R. M. Sorrentino & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Handbook of motivation and cognition (pp. 3–27). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tesser, A. (1988). Toward a self-evaluation maintenance model of social behavior, in L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 20, pp. 181–227). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tesser, A., Millar, M., & Moore, J. (1988). Some affective consequences of social comparison and reflection processes: The pain and pleasure of being close. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 49–61.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, D., & Moore, S. (1993). Physical attractiveness contrast effect: Implications for self-esteem and evaluations of the social self. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 19, 474–480.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trope, Y. (1986). Self-assessment and self-enhancement in achievement motivation. In R. Sorrentino & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Handbook of motivation and cognition: Foundations of social behavior (Vol. 1, pp. 350–378). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trope, Y., & Bassok, M. (1982). Confirmatory and diagnostic strategies in social information gathering. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 22–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trope, Y., & Liberman, A. (1996). Social hypothesis testing: Cognitive and motivational factors. In E. T. Higgins & A. W. Kruglanski (Eds.), Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles (pp. 239–270). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1974). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. Science, 185, 1124–1130.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler, L. (1966). Motivation as a determinant of upward comparison. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2, 27–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler, L., Martin, R., & Suls, J. (1997). The proxy model of social comparison for self-assessment of ability. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 1, 54–61.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wills, T. A., & Suls, J. (1991). Commentary: Neo-social comparison theory and beyond. In J. Suls & T. A. Wills (Eds.), Social Comparison: Contemporary theory and research (pp. 395–411). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, J. V. (1989). Theory and research concerning social comparisons of personal attributes. Psychological Bulletin, 106, 231–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, J. V., & Taylor, K. L. (1991). Serving self-relevant goals through social comparison. In J. Suls & T. A. Wills (Eds.), Social comparison: Contemporary theory and research (pp. 23–49). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wyer, R. S., & Srull, T. K. (1989). Memory and cognition in its social context. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universitaet Wuerzburg, Psychologie II, 97070, Wuerzburg, Germany

    Thomas Mussweiler & Fritz Strack

Authors
  1. Thomas Mussweiler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Fritz Strack
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA

    Jerry Suls

  2. University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

    Ladd Wheeler

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2000 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Mussweiler, T., Strack, F. (2000). Consequences of Social Comparison. In: Suls, J., Wheeler, L. (eds) Handbook of Social Comparison. The Springer Series in Social Clinical Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4237-7_13

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4237-7_13

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-6903-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-4237-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation