For better or worse: The impact of upward social comparison on self-evaluations.

1996/01/01 by Rebecca L. Collins · 2 citations
Decision Sciences · Mathematics · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Behavioral Health and Interventions #Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics #Econometrics #Mathematics #Psychology #Social and Intergroup Psychology #Social comparison theory #Social psychology #Statistics

paper · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.119.1.51

openalex publication_date 1996/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04

Abstract

Upward social comparison is generally regarded as ego deflating, yet people often compare themselves with those whose abilities and attributes are better than their own. Upward comparison provides useful information, which may partially account for this behavior. Furthermore, it is proposed that upw

Citations

• Coming to terms with failure: Private self-enhancement and public self-effacement
• Motivation as a determinant of upward comparison
• Theory and research concerning social comparisons of personal attributes.
• The affective consequences of social comparison: Either direction has its ups and downs.
• Basking in reflected glory: Three (football) field studies.
• Downward comparison principles in social psychology.
• A Theory of Social Comparison Processes
• Evaluations of Self and Others: Self-Enhancement Biases in Social Judgments
• Illusion and well-being: A social psychological perspective on mental health.

Cited by

• Superstars and me: Predicting the impact of role models on the self.
• Self-enhancement [wikipedia]