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Sidestepping awkward encounters: avoidance as a response to outperformance‐related discomfort
Author(s) -
Exline Julie Juola,
Zell Anne L.,
Lobel Marci
Publication year - 2013
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.1559-1816.2013.01047.x
Subject(s) - psychology , social psychology , preference , distress , applied psychology , clinical psychology , microeconomics , economics
When people believe that their higher performance poses a threat to another person, they may experience discomfort or concern that has been termed Sensitivity to being the T arget of a T hreatening U pward C omparison ( STTUC ). One way to reduce STTUC discomfort might be to avoid contact with the outperformed person, a possibility examined in three studies of undergraduates. In laboratory contexts, STTUC discomfort predicted reluctance to meet an outperformed peer (Study 1) and preference for a different partner in future competitions (Study 2). In Study 3, which focused on naturalistic outperformance situations, STTUC distress again predicted avoidance. Additionally, avoidance of contact predicted less satisfaction with outcomes, especially in relationships where people knew each other well.