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Burnout, Uncertainty, and the Desire for Social Comparison Among Nurses
Author(s) -
Buunk Bram P.,
Schaufeli Wilmar B.,
Ybema Jan F.
Publication year - 1994
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.1559-1816.1994.tb01570.x
Subject(s) - psychology , burnout , social psychology , preference , feeling , coping (psychology) , occupational stress , social comparison theory , context (archaeology) , personally identifiable information , clinical psychology , paleontology , economics , biology , microeconomics , computer security , computer science
A study was conducted among 295 nurses to examine the interest in social comparison information, that is, the desire to learn more about the feelings and responses of others facing a similar situation. Occupational burnout, in particular emotional exhaustion, reduced personal accomplishment and uncertainty, had independent relationships with the interest in social comparison information. Comparison preferences were strongly upward; there was in general a stronger preference for information about others who were better off than for affiliation with such others. There was also a stronger preference for comparison with more experienced than with more competent others. However, better‐off others were avoided relatively more by those high in burnout, especially by those high in reduced personal accomplishment. The results are discussed in the context of social comparison as a way of coping with stress, and self‐improvement and self‐protection as motives for social comparison.