Making self-serving social comparisons of performance depends on the freedom with which we can construct post hoc estimates of our own performance and that of comparison others. Three studies test the counterintuitive hypothesis that we make the most self-serving comparisons when (a) it is easy to construct our own standing on a dimension (in a positive direction) and (b) the standing of comparison others is relatively fixed (thus not easily constructed). In the first two studies, participants received performance feedback for themselves and others that each varied in susceptibility to construction. In Study 3, the availability of performance feedback for self and others was varied. Analyses on ratings of comparative performance showed that all studies supported the hypothesis. The effect seemed to derive from self-enhancement rather than denigration of others. Moreover, individuals in the high-self-construction/low-other-construction conditions rated performance as relatively more personally important and showed marginally less negative affect.
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