Comparing comparisons: A transdiagnostic investigation of social and temporal comparisons and their differential effects on mental health outcomes and well-being.

Students evaluate their domain-specific abilities by comparing their own achievement in a certain domain with the achievement of others (social comparison), with their own prior achievement (temporal comparison), and with their own achievement in other domains (dimensional comparison). This article is the first to analyze the simultaneous effects of social, temporal, and dimensional comparisons on students’ academic self-concepts of various domains in experimental and field studies. In Study 1 (N = 120), students judged their ability self-concept after having received experimentally manipulated social, temporal, and dimensional comparison feedback. In Study 2 (N = 924), students had to rate their math and German self-concept and were asked to directly compare their achievement to social, temporal, and dimensional comparison standards. In the longitudinal Study 3a (N = 3,054) and 3b (N = 14,008), the three types of comparisons were modeled in an extended internal/external frame of reference model (Marsh, 1986) containing paths from math and verbal achievement level and achievement change to math and verbal self-concept. In all studies, social, temporal, and dimensional comparisons showed significant effects on self-concept. For each comparison process, downward comparisons with worse-off standards resulted in higher self-concepts, whereas upward comparisons with better-off standards resulted in lower self-concepts. These results are in accordance with the theories underlying social, temporal, and dimensional comparison processes and support their integration into a combined framework. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)

Objectives: The relationship between body satisfaction and self-esteem among older women is understudied, in particular the potential mechanisms underlying the relationship. The purpose of this study was to investigate social and temporal comparisons and self-objectification, their relationship to body satisfaction and self-esteem, and the extent to which they mediated the relationship between body satisfaction and self-esteem.Method: Women (N = 180) between the ages of 55 and 91 (mean age = 66 years) completed questionnaires assessing body satisfaction, self-esteem, social and temporal comparisons, and self-objectification.Results: Most correlations between body satisfaction, social and temporal comparisons, self-objectification, and self-esteem were highly significant in the expected directions. Upward temporal comparison was used most frequently followed by downward social comparison. Upward temporal comparisons most often targeted the 30 s and 40 s, while social comparisons most often targeted same age peers. Women were more likely to endorse competence-based over appearance-based self-objectification items. Upward and downward social comparison mediated the relationship between body satisfaction and self-esteem, with the strongest indirect effects among younger women.Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of temporal and social comparison in maintaining body satisfaction among middle-aged and older women and their tendency to emphasize competence versus appearance in evaluating their bodies. Results are discussed in the context of developmental and cohort effects that influence body satisfaction among older women.

ABSTRACTThis paper extends an adjacent perspective to social comparison theory: temporal comparison theory, which refers to intraindividual comparison over time (i.e., comparing the present self with past or future selves), and develops this theory in the context of virtual consumer identity. Building on existing literature on social comparison theory, temporal comparison theory, identity theory, and self‐concept theories, and advancements in technology‐driven virtual self‐expression, we propose a preliminary theoretical framework that outlines the mechanisms, processes, and consequences of reflective and predictive temporal comparison and their relationship to social comparison theory. We elucidate how temporal comparison influences consumers' development of self, emotional regulation, pursuit of wellbeing, and associated consumer behavior, particularly in virtual contexts. Insights resulting from our integrated theoretical approach suggest that predictive temporal comparisons serve motivations (e.g., assessing personal growth or decline) that may not be addressed by comparisons with social others. By examining the role of social and temporal comparison in contemporary consumer behavior, particularly in digitally mediated experiences, our study provides deeper understanding of the relationship between comparison and self‐concept. We present implications for researchers, marketers, and society, and suggest research directions to explore temporal and social comparison as complementary theories in understanding the digital consumer.

In this descriptive study we investigated the relationship of social psychological processes to older adults' self-esteem. A modified semistructured interview format that assessed social and temporal comparisons, self-esteem, and self-rated adjustment to aging was administered to 70 male and female community residents of Southern California. The majority of participants reported downward social comparisons by describing themselves as being relatively advantaged compared with their age peers. Also, participants tended to report downward temporal comparisons that reflected growth or stable temporal comparisons that reflected continuity across time. Results are discussed in light of their implications for Festinger's (1954) social comparison theory, Albert's (1977) temporal comparison theory, and the use of social psychological processes as mechanisms for self-enhancement in healthy aging.

How we perceive and evaluate our own aging is shaped by both social and temporal comparisons. Social comparison involves evaluating oneself in relation to others, whereas temporal comparison focuses on assessing changes within oneself over time. Comparative information can produce opposing effects, causing individuals to feel either relatively younger or older than their chronological age: While temporal comparisons are often perceived as threatening in the second half of life, social comparisons are frequently employed to bolster self-perceptions. We investigated how social and temporal comparisons shape subjective aging in two studies, a longitudinal (Study 1, N = 2,425, 39-93 years; 55.5% women) and an experimental study (Study 2, N = 160, 50-75 years, 58% women). The results of both studies demonstrate that "me vs. them" comparisons result in feeling relatively younger, whereas "me vs. past/future me" comparisons lead to feeling relatively older. Study 2 also reveals evidence for the mediating role of self-perceptions of aging in this relationship. We discuss how social and temporal comparisons influence subjective age in opposite ways, offering important insights into the cognitive and motivational processes underlying subjective aging. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

We propose and test a dual process model of subjective aging illustrating how social and temporal comparison processes shape subjective aging in opposite ways in the second half of life. First, an information-processing pathway primarily involves temporal comparisons, including reflective processing that leads to assimilation. Second, a motivational pathway involves social comparisons, including evaluative processing that results in contrast. We predicted and found across two studies – a 10-year longitudinal (Study 1, N = 2,425, 39-93 years; 55.5% women) and an experimental study (Study 2, N = 160, 50-75 years, 58% women) - that social comparisons (“me vs. them”) result in more positive self-perceptions of aging and feeling relatively younger, whereas temporal comparisons (“me vs. past/future me”) lead to more negative self-perceptions of aging and feeling relatively older. We discuss how these insights can enhance our understanding of the cognitive and motivational processes that shape subjective aging and can inform interventions and policies aimed at fostering positive self-perceptions of aging and promoting healthy aging.

Cognitive adaptation in the elderly and the motivated use of temporal and social comparisons set the conceptual frame for the present study. Three research questions were investigated in a sample of 2.129 persons aged between 50 and 90 years. First, the direction of social and temporal comparisons for three domains (physical fitness, mental fitness, psychological resilience) was studied, and findings did show that especially lateral followed by upward comparisons were most frequent under both perspectives; downward comparisons clearly showed the least frequency. Second, the distribution of comparison directions was investigated across four age groups. These analyses showed that upward comparisons increased and lateral comparisons decreased across age groups; differential results were observed for the domains under consideration. Third, the relation between social and temporal comparisons and self-esteem was studied. Results obtained here indicated a motivated use of specific comparison directions since downward social comparisons and upward temporal comparisons were most frequent in persons with low self-esteem. Taken together, the study underlines the different functions of social and temporal comparisons in adulthood and old age; it indicates a predominant need for consensus and consistency, and it highlights the importance of self-esteem in cognitive adaptation.

Students evaluate their domain-specific abilities by comparing their own achievement in one domain to that of others (social comparison), to their own previous achievement (temporal comparison), as well as their own achievement in another domain (dimensional comparison). The theories underlying these three comparison processes each assume an upward comparison with a better-off standard to lead to lower self-concept and a downward comparison with a worse-off standard to result in higher self-concept, instead. However, there is a lack of studies investigating the joint effects of simultaneously activated social, temporal, and dimensional comparisons. To close this gap, two experimental studies and one field study were conducted. In Studies 1 (N = 80) and 2 (N = 80), participants were asked to infer the mathematical self-concept of fictitious students after receiving experimentally manipulated social, temporal, and dimensional information about the fictitious students’ achievement in mathematics. In Study 3 (N = 225), participants were asked to report their own mathematical self-concept after rating their mathematical achievement in comparison to social, temporal, and dimensional standards. In all three studies, similar main effects for each of the three comparisons were found leading to lower self-concept following upward comparisons and higher self-concept following downward comparisons. Effect sizes differed, though, indicating social comparisons to have the largest effect, whereas the effects of temporal and dimensional comparisons were small to medium sized. No interaction effects were found. The findings therefore indicate that all three comparison processes are independent and have additive effects on academic self-concept.

The present research examined the joint effects of social, dimensional, and temporal comparisons on students’ academic self-concepts and parents’ beliefs about their children’s competencies during students’ transition phase from elementary school to junior high school. To this end, we tested the newly developed 2I/E model using longitudinal data including 2,417 students between Grades 6 and 7 and 1,846 parents. We found strong social comparison effects and moderate dimensional and temporal comparison effects on students’ self-concepts. In line with our assumption that students should be particularly sensitive to changes in their achievements during phases of school transition, the temporal comparison effects were stronger than in any prior study of the 2I/E model. Parents’ ratings of their children’s competencies were also predicted by social, dimensional, and temporal comparisons. However, whereas the social comparison effects on students’ and parents’ ratings were equally strong, the dimensional and temporal comparison effects were stronger on students’ ratings. We finally tested how social, dimensional, and temporal comparisons affected changes in students’ self-concepts and parents’ competence beliefs over 1 year. Although the effects of all 3 comparisons were still significant, we found drastic changes in their strengths, with the strongest effects on changes in competence beliefs occurring for temporal comparisons. Overall, our study provides a variety of new insights into the impact of comparison processes on the formation of competence beliefs. In particular, it emphasizes the role of temporal comparisons. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)

Self-evaluative effects of temporal and social comparison

Previous studies show that people often feel more capable of prosocial behaviours after downward comparisons. However, there is limited research on how downward comparisons affect pro-environmental consumption. We conducted two online experiments to investigate the impact of downward comparisons on pro-environmental consumption under temporal (Study 1) and social (Study 2) comparisons in China. The results show that downward temporal comparison positively affected preferences for pro-environmental products. Downward social comparison increased both preferences and the willingness to pay for pro-environmental products. In terms of the mechanism, the temporal comparison effect was accounted for by self-evaluations and private self-awareness. Meanwhile, self-evaluations and both private and public self-awareness accounted for the social comparison effect. These findings underscore the importance of downward temporal and social comparisons on pro-environmental consumption within the cultural context of China. Our study establishes links between downward comparisons and pro-environmental consumption within the framework of the internal/external model and self-image/product-image congruity theory. The findings also have significant implications for designing tailored strategies aimed at incentivising pro-environmental consumption.

People often consider how their performance in one domain compares to their performance in other domains, the performance of other people, and their past performance (i.e., dimensional, social, and temporal comparison). The present research is the first to test whether social comparisons have a significantly larger effect on self-evaluations than dimensional and temporal comparisons. Study 1 participants received downward versus upward dimensional, social, and temporal comparison feedback (N = 393). Study 2 participants received downward versus upward comparison feedback for one type and lateral comparisons for the other two types (N = 281). Dimensional and social comparison significantly influenced self-evaluations and affective reactions in both studies. As anticipated, however, social comparison had a significantly larger effect on self-evaluations and affective reactions than either dimensional or temporal comparison. These data provide novel, causal evidence for the primacy of social comparison when people receive three feedback types.

Western societies offer children many opportunities for downward social comparisons (i.e., comparing oneself favorably to others). Such comparisons make children feel proud of themselves but could inadvertently trigger a desire to be superior to others. How can children be made to feel proud without triggering a desire for superiority? We hypothesized that downward temporal comparisons (i.e., comparing one's current self favorably to one's past self) can make children feel proud and give them a sense of insight and progress, without triggering a desire for superiority. We randomly assigned 583 children (Mage = 11.65, SD = 1.92) to engage in social comparisons (downward or upward), temporal comparisons (downward or upward), or no comparison. As hypothesized, downward social and temporal comparisons both made children feel proud, but only temporal comparisons did so without triggering superiority goals. Relative to social comparisons, temporal comparisons gave children a sense of progress and insight. These comparison effects were similar across middle-to-late childhood (ages 8-10), early adolescence (ages 11-13), and middle adolescence (ages 14-16). Collectively, our findings suggest that social comparisons contribute a competitive interpersonal orientation marked by a desire for superiority. Temporal comparisons, in contrast, shift children's goals away from being better than others toward being better than their own past selves. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Do superordinate in-group bias as well as temporal and social comparisons offer standalone explanations for system justification? We addressed this question using the latest World Value Survey (7th Wave), combining the responses of 55,721 participants from 40 different nations. Results from a random slope multilevel model showed that superordinate (national) identification, temporal comparison (i.e., the outcomes of an individual relative to those of his/her parents at different time points), and social comparison (based on income levels) were independent and positive predictors of system justification. Specifically, system justification increased when national identification was high, when income increased (i.e., the socioeconomic comparison was positive), and when the outcomes of citizens improved relative to the outcomes of their parents at relevant time points (i.e., the temporal comparison was positive). Incidentally, we also observed an interaction between national identification and temporal comparison (but not with social comparison), indicating that positive temporal comparison seemed to have a reduced effect (but still significant) for highly identified citizens. These results are supportive of the social identity approach to system justification and suggest that support for societal systems is a positive function of people’s personal and group interests.

Students compare their achievement in a subject with their classmates’ achievements (social comparison), their own prior achievements (temporal comparison), and their achievements in other subjects (dimensional comparison), which can each be better (upward comparison), equal (lateral comparison), or worse (downward comparison). Prior research has investigated the impact of different comparison motivations on the prevalence of social and temporal comparisons, but no study has examined the same for dimensional comparisons yet. The present study closes this gap: A total of 605 German high school students were presented with four situations, in which a fictitious student receives the same objective feedback for an exam in a certain subject, but is motivated either to evaluate, to enhance, to improve, or to differentiate himself. For each comparison motivation, the participants judged how likely the fictitious student was to draw dimensional, social, and temporal upward, lateral, and downward comparisons. As a central result, dimensional comparisons in all directions had the highest prevalences under the self-differentiation motivation. In contrast, the prevalences of dimensional comparisons were relatively low under the other three motivations. This finding complements the recently developed dimensional comparison theory. For the first time, we could empirically show that dimensional comparisons primarily serve self-differentiation motivations.