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Comparisons over time: Temporal trajectories, social comparison, and self‐evaluation
Author(s) -
Zell Ethan,
Alicke Mark D.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
european journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1099-0992
pISSN - 0046-2772
DOI - 10.1002/ejsp.737
Subject(s) - psychology , social comparison theory , task (project management) , falling (accident) , social psychology , constant (computer programming) , self evaluation , test (biology) , applied psychology , computer science , paleontology , management , economics , biology , programming language , psychiatry
Social comparison information fluctuates over time. We examined how people evaluate their task performance and ability after receiving test feedback specifying not only that they ranked above or below average, but also that their social status was rising, falling, or remaining constant. Participants' self‐evaluations were more positive when their social standing was rising over time rather than remaining constant. On the other hand, participants whose status was falling did not evaluate themselves less favorably than those with a constant position in the performance distribution. These reactions to performance feedback were observed on self‐evaluations of ability, but not on more even‐handed assessments of performance. Implications for social comparison and self‐evaluation maintenance theories are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.