An attributional analysis of social-comparison jealousy

Abstract

Five studies tested Weiner's attributional theory (Weiner, 1985) in relation to the arousal of social-comparison jealousy. Studies 1 and 2 assessed the association between causal attribution and the arousal of jealousy in social comparison episodes via a “critical incident” technique. Studies 3 and 4 assessed the arousal of jealousy as a function of the causal structure of a social-comparison episode. Study 5 assessed that relationship in interaction with another antecedent of jealousy (i.e., self-relevance of the domain). Results showed that the attribution of personal failure to internal factors promoted more jealousy than an external attribution. The findings also indicated that both causal attribution and jealousy were associated with the threat to self-esteem people experienced in the comparison episode. Finally, the findings showed that internal attribution affected jealousy independently from the self-relevance of the domain. Results are discussed in terms of Weiner's attributional theory and Tesser's self-evaluation maintenance model.