Why some women can feel more, and others less, attractive after exposure to attractive targets: The role of social comparison orientation

A. Zwenneke Bosch*, Abraham P. Buunk, Frans W. Siero, Justin H. Park

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

As the tendency to compare oneself with others may be associated with the tendency to focus on similarities, we hypothesized that individual differences in social comparison orientation (SCO) may moderate the consequences of upward and downward comparisons. In Study 1, high comparers were found to focus more on similarities than low comparers, suggesting that high comparers are more likely to assimilate in general. In Study 2, SCO was found to be positively associated with mood following exposure to an attractive target, and negatively associated with mood following exposure to a less attractive target. In Studies 2 and 3, SCO was found to be positively associated with self-evaluations of attractiveness following exposure to an attractive target and negatively associated with self-evaluations of attractiveness following exposure to a less attractive target. These results indicate that research on the consequences of social comparison must attend to individual differences in SCO.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)847-855
Number of pages9
JournalEuropean journal of social psychology
Volume40
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2010
Externally publishedYes

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