Premium
Social Comparison of Health Risks: Locus of Control, the Person‐Positivity Bias, and Unrealistic Optimism 1
Author(s) -
Hoorens Vera,
Buunk Bram P.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1993.tb01088.x
Subject(s) - optimism , locus of control , psychology , social psychology , phenomenon , control (management) , physics , management , quantum mechanics , economics
People typically attribute lower health risks to themselves than to others, a phenomenon referred to as unrealistic optimism. The present study tested the person positivity bias as a previously unexamined explanation of the phenomenon and analyzed the relationship between unrealistic optimism and expectations of control. High‐school students estimated their own and one of three other persons’(the average student's, a randomly chosen student's, or their best same‐sex friend's) chances of getting health problems. They also filled out questionnaires measuring locus of control and health‐protective behavior. In contrast with the person positivity explanation, unrealistic optimism was not restricted to the “average other” condition. However, unrealistic optimism was stronger in subjects with a more internal locus of control than in subjects with a rather external locus of control. An unpredicted effect of estimation order was observed: Unrealistic optimism was stronger in subjects who estimated the comparison person's risks first than in subjects who started with own risks. This effect can be understood in terms of Codol's observation that people perceive others as more similar to themselves than they themselves are to others.