This study assessed the extent to which job factors (income, prestige, and gender integration), family factors (earnings relative to spouse, parental status), work goals, and personality attributes predicted men's and women's social comparisons and perceptions of faring at work. Respondents were 60 men and 60 women in high-achieving, somewhat male-dominated positions. Men reported more same-sex and fewer cross-sex comparisons than women did. Overall, however, almost half of the respondents said they compared predominantly with others of both sexes. There was no relationship between sex of comparison other and comparison direction. The best predictors of sex of comparison were respondent sex and income. The best predictor of comparison direction was parental status. Autonomy, dominance, and achievement striving was the best predictor of perceptions of work faring.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
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.
2.
Barnett, R. , Brennan, R., & Marshall, N. (1994). Gender and the relationship between parent role quality and psychological distress: A study of men and women in dual-earner couples. Journal of Family Issues, 15, 229-252.
3.
Biernat, M. , & Wortman, C. B. (1991). Sharing of home responsibilities between professionally employed women and their husbands. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 844-860.
4.
Blumstein, P. , & Schwartz, P. (1983). American couples. New York: William Morrow.
5.
Bose, C. E. , & Rossi, P. A. (1983). Gender and jobs: Prestige standings of occupations as affected by gender. American Sociological Review, 48, 316-330.
6.
Brickman, P. , & Bulman, R. J. (1977). Pleasure and pain in social comparison. In J. M. Suls & R. L. Miller (Eds.), Social comparison processes: Theoretical and empirical perspectives (pp. 149-186). Washing-ton, DC: Hemisphere.
7.
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.
8.
Crocker, J. , Thompson, L. L., McGraw, K. M., & Ingerman, C. (1987). Downward comparison, prejudice, and evaluations of others; Effects of self-esteem and threat. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 907-916.
9.
Crosby, F. J. (1982). Relative deprivation and working women. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
10.
Feldman, N. S. , & Ruble, D. N. (1981). Social comparison strategies: Dimensions offered and options taken. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 7, 11-16.
11.
Felicio, D. M. , & Miller, C. T. (1994). Social comparison in medical school: What students say about gender and similarity. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 15, 277-296.
12.
Festinger L. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7, 117-140.
13.
Friend, R. M. , & Gilbert, J. (1973). Threat and fear of negative evaluation as determinants of locus of social comparison. Journal of Personality, 41, 328-340.
14.
Goethals, G. , & Darley, J. (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.
15.
Gough, H. , & Heilbrun, A. (1983). The adjective check list manual. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists.
16.
Haas, L. (1986). Wives' orientation toward breadwinning. Journal of Family Issues, 7, 358-381.
17.
Hakmiller, K. L. (1966). Need for self-evaluation, perceived similarity, and comparison choice. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, (Suppl. 1), 49-54.
18.
Hochschild, A. (1989). The second shift. New York: Viking.
19.
Major, B. (1987). Gender, justice, and the psychology of entitlement. In P. Shaver & C. Hendrick (Eds.), Review of personality and social psychology (Vol. 7, pp. 124-148). Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE Publications.
20.
Major, B. , & Forcey, B. (1985). Social comparisons and pay evaluations: Preferences for same-sex same-job wage comparisons. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 21, 393-405.
21.
Miller, C. T. (1984). Self-schemas, gender, and social comparison: A clarification of the related attributes hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 1222-1228.
22.
Nosanchuk, T. , & Erickson, B. (1985). How high is up? Calibrating social comparison in the real world. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 624-634.
23.
Pleck, J. (1985). Working wives, working husbands. Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE Publications.
24.
Silberstein, L. (1992). Dual-career marriage: A system in transition. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
25.
Smith, R. H. , & Insko, C. A. (1987). Social comparison choice during ability evaluation: The effects of comparison publicity, performance feedback, and self-esteem. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 13, 111-122.
26.
Steil, J. M. (1994). Equality and entitlement in marriage: Benefits and barriers. In M. Lerner & G. Mikula (Eds.), Entitlement and the affectional bond (pp. 229-258). New York: Plenum.
27.
Steil, J. , & Weltman, K. (1990). Marital inequality: The importance of resources, personal attributes and social norms on career valuing and the allocation of domestic responsibilities. Sex Roles, 24(3/4), 161-179.
28.
Steil, J. , & Whitcomb, J. (1992, AUTHOR: MONTH?). Conceptualizations of equality. Paper presented at the sixth International Conference on Personal Relationships, Orono, ME.
29.
Suls, J. , Gaes, G., & Gastorf, J. (1979). Evaluating a sex-related ability: Comparison with same-, opposite-, and combined-sex norms. Journal of Research in Personality, 13, 294-304.
30.
Suls, J. , & Wills, T. A. (Eds.). (1991). Social comparison: Contemporary theory and research. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
31.
Taylor, S. E. , & Brown, J. (1988). Illusion and well-being: A social psychological perspective on mental health. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 193-210.
32.
Testa, M. , & Major, B. (1990). The impact of comparisons after failure: The moderating effects of perceived control. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 11, 205-218.
33.
Thoits, P. (1992). Identity structures and psychological well-being: Gender and marital status comparisons. Social Psychology Quarterly, 55, 236-256.
34.
Thompson, L. , & Walker, A. (1989). Gender in families: Women and men in marriage, work and parenthood. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 51, 845-871.
35.
U. S. Bureau of the Census (1995). Statistical abstract of the United States 1995 (115th ed.). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
36.
U. S. Department of Labor . (1988). Employment and earnings for 1987. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
37.
U. S. Department of Labor . (1991). U.S. working women. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
38.
U. S. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau . (1993). Facts on working women. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
39.
Vannoy-Hiller, D. , & Philliber, W. (1989). Equal partners: Successful women in marriage. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE Publications.
40.
Wheeler, L. , & Miyake, K. (1992). Social comparison in everyday life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 760-773.
41.
Wills, T. A. (1981). Downward comparison principles in social psychology. Psychological Bulletin, 90, 245-271.
42.
Wood, J. V. (1989). Theory and research concerning social comparisons of personal attributes. Psychological Bulletin, 106, 231-248.
43.
Wood, J. V. , Taylor, S. E., & Lichtman, R. R. (1985). Social comparison in adjustment to breast cancer. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 1169-1183.
44.
Zanna, M. P. , Crosby, F., & Loewenstein, G. (1987). Male reference groups and discontent among female professionals. In B. Gutek & L. Larwood (Eds.), Women's career development (pp.28-41). Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE Publications.
45.
Zanna, M. P. , Goethals, G. R., & Hill, J. F. (1975). Evaluating a sex-related ability: Social comparison with similar others and standard setters. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 11, 86-93.
