An ecological momentary assessment of comparison target as a moderator of the effects of appearance-focused social comparisons

This research examined whether comparison target moderates the effects of naturally occurring appearance-focused social comparisons on women's affect, appearance esteem, and dieting thoughts. During daily activities, body-satisfied (BS) women and body-dissatisfied (BD) women recorded their comparison targets and reactions to comparison information. For BS women, upward comparisons with peers were associated with more positive affect (PA) and appearance esteem and less guilt than upward comparisons with media images and downward comparisons with peers were associated with less PA than downward comparisons with media images. For BD women, upward comparisons with peers were associated with more appearance esteem and diet thoughts than upward comparisons with media images and downward comparisons with peers were associated with less PA, appearance esteem, and diet thoughts and more guilt than downward comparisons with media images.     

The impact of appearance-focused social comparisons on body image disturbance in the naturalistic environment: the roles of thin-ideal internalization and feminist beliefs

Drawing on Festinger's (1954) social comparison theory and its modern applications, this research investigated the relationship between upward appearance-focused social comparisons and body image disturbance using ecological momentary assessment, which allows for examination of these phenomena in their natural context. Participants were 91 undergraduate women who answered questionnaires five times per day for five days using Palm Personal Data Assistant (PDA) devices. Analyses were conducted using hierarchical linear modeling, which allows for examination of longitudinal data both within and across participants. Results revealed a positive relationship between upward appearance-focused social comparisons and body image disturbance. Upward appearance-focused social comparisons were associated with greater body image disturbance for those with higher levels of thin-ideal internalization and with greater body checking for women with lower levels of feminist beliefs. These findings further illuminate the nature of the relationship between social comparisons and body image disturbance.     

Harm, intent, and the nature of aggressive behavior: measuring naturally occurring aggression in barroom settings

The research goals were to use the constructs of harm and intent to quantify the severity of aggression in the real-world setting of the bar/club, to describe the range of aggressive behaviors and their relationship to harm and intent, and to examine gender differences in the form and severity of aggression. Systematic observations were conducted by trained observers on 1,334 nights in 118 bars/clubs. Observers documented a range of aggressive acts by 1,754 patrons in 1,052 incidents, with many forms of aggression occurring at more than one harm and intent level. Women used different forms of aggression, inflicted less harm, and were more likely to have defensive intent compared with men. Implications of the findings for research and measurement of aggression and applications to preventing aggression and violence are discussed.     

Antecedents and consequences of the frequency of upward and downward social comparisons at work

The current paper examines the dispositional and situational antecedents, as well as the attitudinal and behavioral consequences, of the frequency of upward and downward social comparisons. We predicted social comparison frequency would be influenced by uncertainty-related antecedents, and that social comparisons in organizations would be characterized by contrast, not assimilation, effects. A large and occupationally diverse sample of 991 employed adults was surveyed at three separate points in time over a 12–16 week period. Our results, based on structural equation modeling, indicated that (a) role ambiguity, task autonomy, and core self-evaluations were significant predictors of upward social comparison, (b) upward social comparison was significantly negatively related to job satisfaction and affective commitment, (c) downward social comparison was significantly positively related to job satisfaction and affective commitment, and (d) upward and downward social comparisons had significant positive and negative indirect effects on the frequency of job search behaviors, respectively. The findings are discussed in terms of their general implications for understanding the importance of directional social comparison processes in organizational settings.     

Method matters: effects of explicit versus implicit social comparisons on activation, behavior, and self-views

The authors investigated the impact of explicit versus implicit social comparisons. Simply being primed with a superior or inferior standard (implicit comparison) produced contrast as evidenced by accessibility of self-knowledge (Study 2), intellectual performance (Study 3), and self-ratings (Study 4), inconsistent with the standard. However, when participants were explicitly asked to compare, increased accessibility of a similarity focus (Study 1) and self-knowledge, behavioral performance, and self-ratings congruent with the standard were obtained more easily, indicative of assimilation. Explicit comparisons produced assimilation when the self was seen as mutable (rather than immutable; Study 4), when behavioral consequences were measured immediately after the comparison (rather than later; Study 3), and when the participants described (rather than ranked) their intelligence (Study 5). These findings support the interpretation comparison model. Implications for resolution of empirical inconsistencies in the social comparison literature are discussed.     

The effects of frequency of social interaction and relationship closeness on reward allocation

In this study of how the frequency of interaction affects decisions on reward allocation, 320 Chinese adults were randomly assigned to 8 conditions and instructed to read a scenario describing 2 co-workers completing a task and obtaining a bonus. The 8 conditions differed in the type of relationships, the frequency of past interaction between co-workers, and the possibility of future interaction. Each participant was instructed to act as the allocator and to hypothetically allocate a monetary reward to the co-worker. The results indicated that both past interaction and future interaction between the co-workers significantly influenced the allocation decision. These results also suggested that the frequency of 2 individuals' past interaction can be predictive of the closeness of their relationship.     

The rational side of egocentrism in social comparisons

Prior work has found that when people compare themselves with others they egocentrically focus on their own strengths and achievements more than on the (equally relevant) strengths and achievements of the comparison group. As a consequence, people tend to overestimate their comparative standing when absolute standing is high and underestimate their comparative standing when absolute standing is low. The present research investigated a rational discounting explanation of this bias—namely, that people weight the target of the comparison (the self) more than the referent of the comparison (others) because they typically have more knowledge about the former than the latter. In three studies, we found that the tendency to focus on the target in social comparisons—and the over and underestimation of relative standing that tendency engenders—was reduced (but not eliminated) as people’s knowledge about the comparison group increased. These results suggest that there may be a rational side to egocentrism in social comparisons.     

The nature and treatment of social phobia in youth

A small proportion of children and adolescents experience a debilitating level of social anxiety, known as social phobia. Initially, we consider the phenomenology and aetiology of social phobia in children and adolescents. A number of age-sensitive assessment instruments or tools are briefly considered: a diagnostic interview, selj-report instruments, behavioural observations, cognitive assessment, self-monitoring and psychophysiological recording. We explore cognitive-behavioural strategies that have been found to be useful in the management of social phobia. Although there is much research support for the efficacy of cognitive-behavioural strategies for adults with social phobia, it is emphasized that controlled evaluations have yet to be undertaken with socially phobic youngsters.     

Spatial frequency comparisons of rotated gratings

Reaction time for determining if two square-wave gratings are the same or different is a bimodal function of the relative angular separation (RAS) between them. Response time peaks at 60° and 120° separation and drops siguificantly at approximately 90°, provided that the gratings being compared are of the same spatial frequency. This pattern of results is not in line with those previously reported for more complex figures, nor may it be attributed to any “oblique effect,” since the same function is obtained with the comparison gratings placed at different retinal orientations. One possible explanation is that orthogonally tuned orientation channels interact in a facilitatory fashion in the human visual system.     

Health,social comparisons,and psychological well-being: Their cross-time relationships

The purposes of this short-term longitudinal study were to investigate (a) stability and change in social comparisons across time; (b) the relationship between physical health and the use of social comparisons across time; (c) whether psychological well-being is best predicted by prior or concurrent social comparisons; and (d) the moderating effects of social comparisons. Community-dwelling elderly women (N=149) completed self-report instruments designed to measure social comparisons, psychological well-being, and physical health at two times, 2 years apart. Worse health at Time 1 predicted more frequent and less positive social comparisons at Time 2. Concurrent, but not prior, social comparisons contributed to a number of domains of psychological well-being. Further, the effects of prior health status on subsequent psychological functioning (Time 2) were moderated by social comparison processes. Women in poorest health who engaged in positive social comparisons showed less depression and anxiety and more positive relations with others at Time 2. Little support was found for the influence of prior psychological functioning on subsequent physical health.     

Depressive personality styles, dysphoria, and social comparisons in everyday life

"Sociotropic" people are supposedly vulnerable to dysphoria after negative interpersonal events, whereas "autonomous" people are supposedly vulnerable to achievement-related failures. The present study examined whether these personality styles are borne out in social comparison processes. For 3 weeks, 27 sociotropic and 35 autonomous undergraduates completed records of their social comparisons. Depressive personality style moderated comparison frequency and the affective consequences of comparisons, especially for dysphoric individuals: Dysphoric respondents were especially likely to make comparisons in domains that were congruent with their personalities, and comparisons in congruent domains were associated with greater mood change than comparisons in other domains, perhaps especially for dysphoric respondents. These results have implications for the literatures on social comparison and on depressive personality styles.     

An investigation of people's metamemories for naturally occurring events

Three studies investigated the role of event salience in the validity of metamemory reports for naturally occurring events. Two studies investigated metamemory for daily forgetting behaviours as recorded on memory diaries for either 10 days (Study 1) or a month (Study 2). A third study examined metamemory for remembering recent events (consisting of the first day of class, the most recent weekend, and the first experimental session). The results indicated that metamemory validity was higher for the more salient memory events, e. g. rote memory failures and memory of the first day of class.     

The effects of status differences,favoured treatment and equity on intergroup comparisons

Studied the effects of status and treatment differentials on in-group bias in an intergroup comparison experiment. The status differential conditions were formed by alleged differences in performance on a prior task between in and out-group. The treatment differential conditions were formed by experimenter's manipulation of a points differential between the in and out-groups. One hundred and fourteen undergraduates were each assigned to one of nine conditions in a 3 × 3 design of high equal low status and favour no favour disfavour. Results indicate a significant status effect (p < 0.01), with in-group bias increasing with status, and a significant favour effect (p < 0.01), with in-group bias decreasing with favour. There is no significant interaction (F < 1). Particular conjunctions of status and treatment represented three conditions oft equity, inequitable advantage, inequitable disadvantage. Contrary to predictions from equity theory, but in accord with predictions from social comparison theory, results indicate in-group bias in all three conditions.     

The harms of ignoring the social nature of science

In this paper I argue that philosophers of science have an obligation to recognize and engage with the social nature of the sciences they assess if those sciences are morally relevant. Morally-relevant science is science that has the potential to risk harm to humans, non-humans, or the environment. My argument and the approach I develop are informed by an analysis of the philosophy of biology literature on the criticism of evolutionary psychology (EP), the study of the evolution of human psychology and behaviour. From this literature, I tease out two different methods of scientific critique. The first I call the “truth-detectional” approach. Those who take this approach are first and foremost concerned about the truth of EP claims as that truth can be determined by evidence. The second I call the “social-dimensional” approach. Those who take this approach talk about the production and truth of EP claims but within a social framework. On this account, the legitimacy and perceived legitimacy of EP claims are not separate from the institutional and social processes and values that lend to their production. I show that the truth-detectional approach risks harms to society and to the philosophy of science, but that the social-dimensional approach avoids these harms. Philosophers of science, therefore, should take a social-dimensional approach to the assessment of morally-relevant science.

     

Multi-attribute choice and affect: The influence of naturally occurring and manipulated moods on choice processes

Based on a two-dimensional model of affect that views Pleasantness and Arousal as affect's two primary dimensions, this study investigates the effects of emotions on choice processes and outcomes. In Study 1, subjects first described their naturally occurring emotional state and then performed two multi-attribute product choice tasks. Subjects in more pleasant mood deliberated longer, used more decision-related information, re-examined more previously examined information, and made more interdimensional moves. Subjects in more aroused mood spent less time deliberating, revealed less information, ignored more product-describing attributes, and re-examined less of previously examined information. Study 2 replicated many of these effects with experimentally manipulated emotions and using a managerial decision-making task. The results are interpreted in terms of (1) a congruency between one's hedonic state and selected decision strategy and (2) a restriction in attentional capacity induced by increased Arousal.