Self-Enhancement by Social Comparison: A Prospective Analysis

Self-enhancement and physical health: A meta-analysis

A prior meta-analysis yielded a positive relation between self-enhancement and psychological health. This article presents the first meta-analysis of the association between self-enhancement and physical health (k = 87; N = 22,415). The meta-analysis relied predominantly on social desirability as an operationalization of self-enhancement and secondarily on comparative judgement and narcissism. Further, the meta-analysis operationalized physical health in terms of self-rated health, symptoms and biomarkers. Overall, self-enhancement yielded a near-zero association with physical health, r = .01. However, this association was more pronounced for comparative judgement (r = .18, k = 6) than social desirability (r = .03, k = 41) or narcissism (r = -.0001, k = 8), and for self-rated health (r = .09, k = 9) than symptoms (r = .01, k = 29) or biomarkers (r = -.13, k = 17). The association between self-enhancement and physical health fluctuates across measures of both constructs calling for more focussed and nuanced investigations.

Does personality still matter in e-commerce? How perceived hubris influences the assessment of founders' trustworthiness using the example of reward-based crowdfunding

Reward-based crowdfunding broadens the scope of e-commerce transactions, as prototypical products are pre-sold under conditions of considerable uncertainty. To date, we know little about the mechanisms that underlie decisions to back reward-based crowdfunding campaigns. However, it is likely that startup founders' possibility of showcasing their personalities in video pitches signals their trustworthiness, particularly, as other features, such as quality seals and customer testimonials, are often unavailable. We use signaling theory to reinforce the move from a feature-oriented perspective to a signaling perspective, as signals can transmit information about startup founders' otherwise imperceptible qualities and abilities. Based on a survey (N = 108), we investigate how perceived hubris - proven to be particularly salient in startup contexts - influences the funding decision of potential backers. We find that abilities and legitimacy of a startup founder are rated positively when s/he is perceived as hubristic. These results have implications for crowdfunding campaigns and highlight the relevance of personality traits in electronic markets.

Methods to Assess Social Comparison Processes Within Persons in Daily Life: A Scoping Review

Self-evaluations relative to others (i.e., social comparisons) have well-established implications for health and well-being, and are typically assessed via global, retrospective self-report. Yet, comparison is inherently a dynamic, within-person process; comparisons occur at different times, on a range of dimensions, with consequences that can vary by context. Global, retrospective assessment forces aggregation across contexts and reduces ecological validity, limiting its utility for informing a nuanced understanding of comparisons in daily life. Research across social and clinical psychology has implemented methods to assess comparisons naturalistically, involving intensive, repeated assessments of comparison occurrence, characteristics, and consequences in everyday life (via ecological momentary assessment or daily diaries). Although promising, this work to date lacks an overarching conceptual framework for guiding decisions about assessment design and implementation. To address this gap, the aims of this scoping review were: (1) to summarize available literature on within-person naturalistic assessment of social comparison, and (2) to provide a set of key considerations to inform future social comparison research using within-person naturalistic assessment. Searches in PubMed, PsycInfo, and CINAHL identified relevant articles published before June 2019. Articles were included if they described at least 3 comparison assessments within each participant, taken in the natural environment, and spaced no more than ~24 h apart (i.e., repeated momentary or daily assessment). In articles meeting these criteria (33 unique studies across 36 published papers), we summarized aspects of the comparison assessment, including recording methods, direction (e.g., upward, downward), target (e.g., friend, stranger), and dimension (e.g., status, appearance). Most studies assessed appearance comparisons (vs. other comparison dimensions) and collected information in response to signals (rather than initiated by participants). However, there was considerable heterogeneity in the number of assessments, assessment periods, recording modalities, and comparison predictors and outcomes assessed. Findings broadly establish heterogeneity in the aspects of comparison considered critical for within-person naturalistic assessment. We describe key decision points for future work to help advance within-person naturalistic assessment methods and improve the utility of such approaches to inform research, theory, and intervention.

Eating disorder-related social comparison in college women's everyday lives

OBJECTIVE

This study examined: frequency of upward and downward body, eating, and exercise comparisons; context in which these comparisons occur; and body, eating, and exercise comparison direction as predictors of concurrent body dissatisfaction and disordered eating thoughts, urges, and behaviors in college women's everyday lives using ecological momentary assessment (EMA).

METHOD

Participants were 232 college women who completed a two-week EMA protocol, using their personal electronic devices to answer questions three times per day.

RESULTS

First, body, eating, and exercise comparisons were common. Second, when these comparisons were made, they were typically upward. Third, body comparisons were most oftentimes made about weight and shape and eating comparisons about healthiness and amount of food. Exercise comparisons were made on a wider variety of dimensions. Fourth, most body and eating comparisons were made with strangers and close friends, respectively, while exercise comparisons were made with a variety of individuals. Upward comparisons were usually made with acquaintances and strangers. Fifth, results shed light on where college women compare themselves. Sixth, upward comparisons were found to have negative consequences, and downward comparisons were generally not found to have a buffering effect on eating pathology.

DISCUSSION

Results suggest targeting not only body but also eating and exercise comparisons in intervention. Also, prevention/intervention approaches should not promote engagement in downward comparisons, as they were not found to be protective and were even harmful at times. Clinicians should be attuned to the categories on which, with whom, and where college women are most likely to compare.

Mediators of the relationship between thin-ideal internalization and body dissatisfaction in the natural environment

Social comparisons (i.e., body, eating, exercise) and body surveillance were tested as mediators of the thin-ideal internalization-body dissatisfaction relationship using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Participants were 232 college women who completed a 2-week EMA protocol, responding to questions three times per day. Multilevel path analysis was used to examine a 2-1-1 mediation model (thin-ideal internalization assessed as trait; between-person effects examined) and a 1-1-1 model (component of thin-ideal internalization [thin-ideal importance] assessed momentarily; within- and between-person effects examined). For the 2-1-1 model, only body comparison and body surveillance were significant specific mediators of the between-person effect. For the 1-1-1 model, all four variables were significant specific mediators of the within-person effect. Only body comparison was a significant specific mediator of the between-person effect. At the state level, many processes explain the thin-ideal internalization-body dissatisfaction relationship. However, at the trait level, body comparison and body surveillance are more important explanatory factors.

A naturalistic examination of social comparisons and disordered eating thoughts, urges, and behaviors in college women

OBJECTIVE

We examined the effects of body, eating, and exercise social comparisons on prospective disordered eating thoughts and urges (i.e., restriction thoughts, exercise thoughts, vomiting thoughts, binge eating urges) and behaviors (i.e., restriction attempts, exercising for weight/shape reasons, vomiting, binge eating) among college women using ecological momentary assessment (EMA).

METHOD

Participants were 232 college women who completed a 2-week EMA protocol, in which they used their personal electronic devices to answer questions three times per day. Generalized estimating equation models were used to assess body, eating, and exercise comparisons as predictors of disordered eating thoughts, urges, and behaviors at the next report, adjusting for body dissatisfaction, negative affect, and the disordered eating thought/urge/behavior at the prior report, as well as body mass index.

RESULTS

Body comparisons prospectively predicted more intense levels of certain disordered eating thoughts (i.e., thoughts about restriction and exercise). Eating comparisons prospectively predicted an increased likelihood of subsequent engagement in all disordered eating behaviors examined except vomiting. Exercise comparisons prospectively predicted less-intense thoughts about exercise and an increased likelihood of subsequent vomiting.

DISCUSSION

Social comparisons are associated with later disordered eating thoughts and behaviors in the natural environment and may need to be specifically targeted in eating disorder prevention and intervention efforts. Targeting body comparisons may be helpful in terms of reducing disordered eating thoughts, but eating and exercise comparisons are also important and may need to be addressed in order to decrease engagement in actual disordered eating behaviors.

The relationships among social comparisons, body surveillance, and body dissatisfaction in the natural environment

We examined the relationships among social comparisons (i.e., body, eating, and exercise), body surveillance, and body dissatisfaction in the natural environment. Participants were 232 college women who completed a daily diary protocol for 2 weeks, responding to online surveys 3 times per day. When the contemporaneous relationships among these variables were examined in a single model, results indicated that comparing one's body, eating, or exercise to others or engaging in body surveillance was associated with elevated body dissatisfaction in the same short-term assessment period. Additionally, individuals with high trait-like engagement in body comparisons or body surveillance experienced higher levels of body dissatisfaction. Trait-like eating and exercise comparison tendencies did not predict unique variance in body dissatisfaction. When examined prospectively in a single model, trait-like body comparison and body surveillance remained predictors of body dissatisfaction, but the only more state-like behavior predictive of body dissatisfaction at the next assessment was eating comparison. Results provide support for the notion that naturalistic body dissatisfaction is predicted by both state- and trait-like characteristics. In particular, social comparisons (i.e., body, eating, and exercise) and body surveillance may function as proximal triggers for contemporaneous body dissatisfaction, with eating comparisons emerging as an especially important predictor of body dissatisfaction over time. Regarding trait-like predictors, general tendencies to engage in body comparisons and body surveillance may be more potent distal predictors of body dissatisfaction than general eating or exercise comparison tendencies.

Parental Social Status and Intrasexual Competitiveness among Adolescents

A study among 1,881 adolescents (52.3% girls) with a mean age of 19.1 years examined the effects of parental social status upon intrasexual competitiveness. Whereas females were consistently more intrasexually competitive the higher the socio-economic status of their parents, males with parents of the lowest socio-economic status tended to be more intrasexually competitive than those with parents of medium socio-economic status, and nearly as intrasexually competitive as those with parents of high socio-economic status. Only among adolescents with parents of low socio-economic status were males more intrasexually competitive than females. Among males and females, higher levels of intrasexual competitiveness were related to a higher family income, to a higher occupational status of the father as well as of the mother, and to a higher educational level of the mother. Only among females were higher levels of intrasexual competitiveness associated with a higher educational level of the father. Males whose fathers had only elementary education had a relatively high level of intrasexual competitiveness. The results are discussed in the context of the multifaceted nature of human status, and the potential relevance of intrasexual competitiveness for individuals of high versus low social status.

Positively biased appraisals in everyday life: when do they benefit mental health and when do they harm it?

To promote optimal mental health, is it best to evaluate negative experiences accurately or in a positively biased manner? In an attempt to reconcile inconsistent prior research addressing this question, we predicted that the tendency to form positively biased appraisals of negative experiences may reduce the motive to address those experiences and thereby lead to poorer mental health in the context of negative experiences that are controllable and severe but lead to better mental health in the context of controllable negative experiences that are less severe by promoting positive feelings without invoking serious consequences from unaddressed problems. In 2 longitudinal studies, individuals in new marriages were interviewed separately about their ongoing stressful experiences, and their own appraisals of those experiences were compared with those of the interviewers. Across studies, spouses' tendencies to form positively biased appraisals of their stressful experiences predicted fewer depressive symptoms over the subsequent 4 years among individuals judged to be facing relatively mild experiences but more depressive symptoms among individuals judged to be facing relatively severe experiences. Furthermore, in Study 2, these effects were mediated by changes in those experiences, such that the interaction between the tendency to form positively biased appraisals of stressful experiences and the objectively rated severity of initial levels of those experiences directly predicted changes in those experiences, which in turn accounted for changes in depressive symptoms. These findings suggest that cognitive biases are not inherently positive or negative; their implications for mental health depend on the context in which they occur.

Social psychological theories of disordered eating in college women: review and integration

Because peer interaction, weight/shape, and self-concept formation are particularly salient to college women, the implications of social psychological theories may be especially far-reaching during the college years. College women may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of social comparison, objectification, and uses and gratifications theories, which describe social-cognitive mechanisms that provide an individual with information regarding her own view of her body and how she perceives that others perceive her body. The current paper will review and integrate findings related to these three theories of disordered eating in college women in an effort to present a more comprehensive understanding of the social psychological mechanisms that play a role in the development and maintenance of such pathology for this group of young women. Limitations of and future directions for research on these theories will be discussed, as will their potential integration with other factors that contribute to disordered eating and implications for treatment and prevention.

Height among Women is Curvilinearly Related to Life History Strategy

It was hypothesized that women of medium height would show a more secure, long-term mating pattern characterized by less jealousy, less intrasexual competition and a “slower” life history strategy. In three samples of female undergraduate students clear support was found for these hypotheses. In Study 1, among 120 participants, height was curvilinearly related to well-established measures of possessive and reactive jealousy, with women of medium height being less jealous than tall as well as short women. In Study 2, among 40 participants, height was curvilinearly related to intrasexual competition, with women of medium height being less competitive towards other women than tall as well as short women. In Study 3, among 299 participants, height was curvilinearly related to the Mini-K, a well-validated measure of “slower” life history strategy, with women of medium height having a slower life history strategy than tall as well as short women. The results suggest that women of medium height tend to follow a different mating strategy than either tall or short women. Various explanations and implications of these results are discussed.

Functional or fantasy? Examining the implications of subjective temporal perspective "trajectories" for life satisfaction

In a 5-year longitudinal study of young community adults, the authors examined subjective temporal perspective (STP) "trajectories" derived from ratings of past, present, and anticipated future life satisfaction (LS) collected at two time points. Upward STP trajectories (past < present < future LS) were normative at both time points. Opposing hypotheses were derived from the literature concerning the potential positive versus negative implications of upward STP trajectories. Using latent trajectory modeling, individual differences in STP trajectories were examined in relation to mental, physical, and interpersonal functioning as well as future satisfaction bias (over- vs. underestimation of future LS). Steeper upward STP trajectories were associated with less positive functioning, both concurrently and prospectively, as well as greater future satisfaction bias. Therefore, rather than representing a realistic, adaptive form of self-enhancement, steep upward STP trajectories for LS appeared to be a form of fantasizing and wishful thinking, associated with distress, dissatisfaction, and dysfunction.