From seeing to being: subliminal social comparisons affect implicit and explicit self-evaluations

The authors hypothesize that social comparisons can have automatic influences on self-perceptions. This was tested by determining whether subliminal exposure to comparison information influences implicit and explicit self-evaluation. Study 1 showed that subliminal exposure to social comparison information increased the accessibility of the self. Study 2 revealed that subliminal exposure to social comparison information resulted in a contrast effect on explicit self-evaluation. Study 3 showed that subliminal exposure to social comparison information affects self-evaluations more easily than it affects mood or evaluations of other people. Studies 4 and 5 replicated these self-evaluation effects and extended them to implicit measures. Study 6 showed that automatic comparisons are responsive to a person's perceptual needs, such that they only occur when people are uncertain about themselves. Implications for theories of social cognition, judgment, and comparison are discussed.     

Distinctiveness is Key: How Different Types of Self-Other Similarity Moderate Social Comparison Effects

In relevant research to date, the impact of self-other similarity on the outcome of social comparison effects is not well understood. The authors argue that the extent to which this similarity is distinctive is a key to understanding such effects. In two experiments, they demonstrate that when self-other similarity is distinctive (unique), assimilation is more likely, whereas when self-other similarity is nondistinctive (common), contrast is more likely. These results suggest that what matters is the type rather than the quantity of similarity: Similarity on one distinctive dimension more readily leads to assimilation than similarity on numerous nondistinctive dimensions. Importantly, these assimilation effects are especially likely to occur when the comparison dimension is unimportant. Contrast is more likely to occur when the comparison dimension is important. Thus, these findings both replicate and extend Tesser's (1988) Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model.     

Retracted: Judging the unexpected: Disconfirmation of situation‐specific expectancies

People's interactions with others typically take place in specific situations. Therefore, it is likely that expectancies of others are often situation‐specific. In two studies, we examined when and how this situation‐specificity of expectancies affects judgment.We showed that situation‐specific expectancies ‘“Michael is kind at work”’ lead to surprise and contrast effects when incongruent behavior refers to the same specific situation ‘work’, but not in other situations ‘general or home’, whereas general expectancies ‘“Michael is kind”’ lead to such surprise and contrast effects, regardless of the target situation. These results suggest that people sometimes are “situationalists” and do not always show dispositional biases. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hardly thinking about others: On cognitive busyness and target similarity in social comparison effects

Two studies were undertaken to investigate the impact of other-self similarity on the outcome of social comparison effects when people are cognitively busy versus non-busy. Results demonstrate that when perceivers are able to devote sufficient cognitive resources to the comparison process, extremely similar others lead to assimilative self-evaluations, whereas moderately similar others lead to contrastive self-evaluations and dissimilar others lead to null effects. When perceivers are cognitively busy, however, both extremely and moderately similar others yield assimilation effects, whereas dissimilar others yield contrast effects.     

What drives self-affirmation effects? On the importance of differentiating value affirmation and attribute affirmation

In a series of studies, it is demonstrated that different types of self-affirmation procedures produce different effects. Affirming personally important values (value affirmation) increases self-clarity but not self-esteem. Affirming positive qualities of the self (attribute affirmation) increases self-esteem but not self-clarity (Study 1). As a consequence, attribute affirmation (which increases self-esteem) is more effective than value affirmation as a buffer against self-depreciating social comparison information. Attribute-affirmed participants more readily accept the self-evaluative consequences of threatening upward social comparisons than do value-affirmed participants (Study 2). However, value affirmation (which increases self-clarity) is a more effective buffer against dissonance threats. Value-affirmed participants showed less attitude change after writing a counterattitudinal essay than attribute-affirmed participants (Study 3).     

Retraction statement: Judging the unexpected: Disconfirmation of situation‐specific expectancies

The following article from European Journal of Social Psychology, “Judging the unexpected: Disconfirmation of situation‐specific expectancies” by Marret K. Noordewier and Diederik A. Stapel published online on 1 January 2009 in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ), has been retracted by agreement between the co‐author, the journal Editor in Chief, Tom Postmes, and John Wiley and Sons Ltd. The retraction has been agreed following the results of an investigation into the work of Diederik A. Stapel ( https://www.commissielevelt.nl/ ). The Levelt Committee has determined that this article contained data that was fabricated as supplied by Diederik A. Stapel. His co‐author was unaware of his actions, and not in any way involved. REFERENCE Noordewier, M. K. & Stapel, D. A. (2009). Judging the unexpected: Disconfirmation of situation‐specific expectancies. European Journal of Social Psychology, 39, 944–956. DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.591     

Retraction statement: When nothing compares to me: how defensive motivations and similarity shape social comparison effects

The following article from European Journal of Social Psychology, “When nothing compares to me: How defensive motivations and similarity shape social comparison effects” by Diederik A. Stapel and Camille S. Johnson, published online on 26 September 2006 in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ), has been retracted by agreement between the co‐author, the journal Editor in Chief, Tom Postmes, and John Wiley and Sons Ltd. The retraction has been agreed following the results of an investigation into the work of Diederik A. Stapel ( https://www.commissielevelt.nl/ ). The Levelt Committee has determined that this article contained data that was fabricated by Diederik A. Stapel. His co‐author was unaware of his actions, and not in any way involved. REFERENCE Stapel, D. A. &; Johnson, C. S. (2007). When nothing compares to me: how defensive motivations and similarity shape social comparison effects. European Journal of Social Psychology, 37, 824–838. DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.390