Self-evaluative effects of dimensional and social comparison

Abstract

During self-evaluation, people compare their performance in one domain to their performance in other domains (dimensional comparison). Additionally, people compare their own performance to the performance of relevant peers (social comparison). Most experimental research on self-evaluation has investigated the effects of either dimensional comparison or social comparison, despite the fact that people often evaluate themselves in the context of both standards. To address this gap, the current research examined the interplay of dimensional and social comparison during self-evaluation. Participants received manipulated feedback indicating that they performed better or worse in one domain than another domain, and better or worse than other people. Both comparison types significantly influenced self-evaluations and affective reactions; however, the effect of social comparison was significantly stronger than dimensional comparison. These findings support prior theories on the important roles of dimensional and social comparisons in self-evaluation, but also suggest that social comparison is more impactful.