Browsing by Subject "Social comparison"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Associated Correlates of Social Comparison Threat to Working Memory Capacity
    (2018) Peper, Philip E
    Social comparison, whether upward or downward, can cause consequences that hinder working memory performance. The present study aimed to illuminate possible moderators and mediators of the threatening effect of social comparison on working memory capacity. No significant group differences were found, so moderation and mediation analyses were not conducted. However, across comparison groups, exploratory analyses revealed negative affect and peak sympathetic nervous system arousal both negatively and significantly predicted working memory performance. Greater research is needed to determine whether these variables mediate the phenomenon and discover whom is most susceptible to detriments.
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    The Best of Friends, the Worst of Friends: Interpersonal and Intergroup Consequences of Seeking the Best
    (2018-07) Olson, Nicholas
    I examine the effect of maximizing on consumers’ conduct toward others in two essays. In essay 1, I explore how the goal of attaining the best influences the word of mouth that consumers share with others. Building on the notion that attaining the best is associated with not only getting the best, but also being the best relative to others, I show in seven studies that maximizing increases consumers’ propensity to share favorable word of mouth about unsatisfactory purchases, specifically in an effort to encourage others to make the same poor choices, as this enhances relative standing and subjective feelings toward their own choice. I further demonstrate that individuals particularly exhibit this behavior when sharing with interpersonally close (vs. distant) others, as close others tend to be especially relevant to relative standing. Finally, I consider the downstream consequences of such behavior, showing that when individuals are successful in their attempts to bring close others down to their level, they feel subjectively better about their decisions, but they are also burdened with feelings of guilt that erode their overall wellbeing. In essay 2, I shift my focus from consumers’ behavior to their perceptions, examining maximizing’s potential impact on consumers’ perceptions of their social groups (i.e., in-groups) and their fellow group members. I demonstrate in six studies that because maximizers’ in-groups provide a relevant arena in which the best may be realized by outdoing in-group members, maximizers identify strongly with their in-groups. That is, they feel highly connected with their in-groups because they want to be the best within those groups. Although past research assumes this enhanced identification should subsequently have a positive impact on maximizers’ evaluations of fellow group members, I show that because such identification is rooted in maximizers' motivation to best in-group members, they instead view fellow members as a comparison target to be bested, and are actually less favorable (vs. non-maximizers) in their assessments of in-group members relative to non-members. However, I further demonstrate that when maximizers evaluate their in-groups at the aggregate rather than the individual level, thereby limiting their capacity to engage in individual comparisons, they are especially favorable in their in-group assessments, consistent with their heightened in-group identification.
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    Identity relativity: linking stereotype threat and social comparison as parallel processes.
    (2009-09) Russ, Suzanne L.
    Academic achievement gaps across racial, socioeconomic, and gender groups have persisted in the United States despite formidable recent attention on reducing the disparities. While a wide range of social, personal, and cultural factors contribute to the disparities, the simple knowledge that one belongs to a poorly-performing, stereotyped group can impair performance for even very successful members of stereotyped groups. This phenomenon is known as stereotype threat, and has been documented extensively over more than a decade of research. This study sought to elucidate the underpinnings of stereotype threat through the lens of identity relativity, suggesting that dissonance between and among identities contribute to performance deficits under different levels of identity activation. The hypothesis that stereotype threat is a type of social comparison operating under collective rather than individual identity activation was tested: an experiment was conducted in which test performance and three levels of self-esteem (implicit, explicit, and collective) served as dependent measures after activation of either an intergroup or interpersonal comparison. Subjects included community college students, about whom mild stereotypes are shown to exist. While some predictions were supported, the overall pattern of results did not support the hypotheses. Discussion builds that case that the hypotheses were valid but the methods used to investigate the phenomenon were flawed. Recommendations for redesigning the study are proposed. If the connection between stereotype threat and social comparison can be established, then research in both areas can be used to minimize detrimental comparisons and narrow the gap associated with pervasive negative stereotypes.