In this study (N = 96), the role of social comparison in evaluating the quality of one's friendships and social relationships was examined. Participants who were exposed to a comparison target with a very dissatisfying social life evaluated their own social life as better than participants who were exposed to a comparison target with a very satisfying social life. However, this effect was only found among individuals high in the individual characteristic social comparison orientation. It is concluded that only individuals with a dispositional tendency to compare themselves with others will base the evaluation of their social life to an important extent on what they see in others.
Brickman, P. , & Bulman, R.J. (1977). Pleasure and pain in social comparison. In J. Suls & R. L. Miller (Eds.), Social comparison processes: Theoretical and empirical perspectives (pp. 149—186). Washington, DC: Hemisphere .
4.
Bui, K.V.T. , & Pelham. B.W. (1999). Cognitive and affective reactions to social comparison . Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 14, 569—583 .
5.
Buunk, B.P. (2005). How do people respond to others with high commitment or autonomy in their relationships?Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 22, 653—672 .
6.
Buunk, B.P. , & Brenninkmeijer, V. (2001). When individuals dislike exposure to an actively coping role model: Mood change as related to depression and social comparison orientation . European Journal of Social Psychology, 31, 537—548 .
7.
Buunk, B.P. , & Gibbons, F.X. (2006) Social comparison orientation: A new perspective on those who do and those who don't compare with others. In S. Guimond (Ed.), Social comparison and social psychology: Understanding cognition, intergroup relations and culture (pp. 15—33). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
8.
Buunk, B.P. , Oldersma, F.L. , & de Dreu, C.K.W. (2001). Enhancing satisfaction through downward comparison: The role of relational discontent and individual differences in social comparison orientation . Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 37, 452—467 .
9.
Buunk, B.P. & Ybema, J.F. (2003). Feeling bad, but satisfied: The effects of upward and downward comparison with other couples upon mood and marital satisfaction . British Journal of Social Psychology, 42, 613—628 .
10.
Buunk, B.P. , Ybema, J.F. , Gibbons, F.X. , & Ipenburg, M. (2001). The affective consequences of social comparison as related to professional burnout and social comparison orientation . European Journal of Social Psychology, 31, 337—351 .
11.
Buunk, B.P. , Zurriaga, R. , Gonzalez-Roma, V. , & Subirats, M. (2003). Engaging in upward and downward comparisons as a determinant of relative deprivation at work: A longitudinal study . Journal of Vocational Behavior, 62, 370—388 .
12.
Clark, M.S. , & Reis, H.T. (1988). Interpersonal processes in close relationships. Annual Review ofPsychology, 39, 609—672 .
13.
Dagnan, D. , & Sandhu, S. (1999). Social comparison, self-esteem and depression in people with intellectual disablility . Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 43, 372—379 .
14.
Gibbons, F.X. , & Buunk, B.P. (1999). Individual differences in social comparison: Development of a scale of social comparison orientation . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 129—142 .
15.
Hemphill, K.J. , & Lehman, D.R. (1991). Social comparisons and their affective consequences: The importance of comparison dimension and individual difference variables . Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 10, 372—394 .
16.
Mussweiler, T. , Rüter, K. , & Epstude, K. (2004). The man who wasn't there: Subliminal social comparison standards influence self-evaluation . Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 40, 689—696 .
17.
Rusbult, C.E. , & Buunk, B.P. (1993). Commitment processes in close relationships: An interdependence analysis . Journal of Social and Personal Relationships , 10, 175—204 .
18.
Stapel, D.A. , & Koomen, W. (2001). I, we, and the effects of others on me: How self-construal level moderates social comparison effects . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 766—781 .
19.
Thibaut, J.W. , & Kelley, H.H. (1959). The social psychology of groups. New York: Wiley .
20.
Wheeler, L. (2000). Individual differences in social comparison. In J. Suls & L. Wheeler (Eds.), Handbook of social comparison: Theory and research (pp. 141—158). New York: Kluwer .
21.
Van der Zee, K.I. , Oldersma, F.L. , Buunk, B.P. , & Bos, D.A.J. (1998). Social comparison preferences among cancer patients as related to neuroticism and social comparison orientation . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 801—810 .
22.
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 .
