Social Comparison Orientation and Social Adaptation Among Young Chinese Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Academic Self-Concept.

Hualing Miao,Cheng Guo,Zhenxing Li,Yingkai Yang

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01067

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the relationship among social comparison orientation, academic self-concept (ASC), and social adaptation. A total of 1658 Chinese adolescents (48.88% male; aged 14–18 years, Mage = 16.01 ± 0.86 years) voluntarily participated in this study and completed questionnaires. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed to test the theory-driven model. The results showed that the relationship between comparison of opinion and social adaptation was mediated by ASC but that ASC did not play a mediating role between comparison of ability and social adaptation. These findings indicated that ASC could be one mechanism explaining the link between adolescents’ social comparison orientation and social adaptation. Furthermore, it is possible to intervene in their social comparison orientation and ASC to improve adolescents’ social adaptation.

Highlights

Social adaptation is the degree to which individuals engage in competent social activities or adapt to the immediate social environment (Crick and Dodge, 1994)
The results revealed that comparison of opinion (M = 3.61, SD = 0.74) was significantly higher among the participants than comparison of ability [M = 2.78, SD = 0.67; t(1582) = 37.89, p < 0.001, d = 1.18] and that positive social adaptation (PSA) (M = 3.38, SD = 0.58) was significantly higher than negative social adaptation (NSA) [M = 2.30, SD = 0.57; t(1301) = 41.36, p < 0.001, d = 1.88]
Comparison of opinion was positively related to academic self-concept (ASC) (r = 0.16, p < 0.01) and PSA (r = 0.29, p < 0.01) and negatively related to NSA (r = −0.09, p < 0.01); comparison of ability was positively related to NSA (r = 0.22, p < 0.01) but not significantly related to PSA (r = −0.04, p = 0.122) or ASC (r = 0.01, p = 0.736)

Summary

Introduction

Social adaptation is the degree to which individuals engage in competent social activities or adapt to the immediate social environment (Crick and Dodge, 1994). PSA involves behaviors through which individuals meet their needs for survival, development, or social norms, and it is related to their happiness, strength, and growth It includes four dimensions: selfaffirmation, pro-social tendency, acting sufficiency, and active coping. Previous studies found that social comparison orientation was strongly associated with PSA (e.g., life satisfaction) and NSA (e.g., depression, low happiness) (Gibbons and Buunk, 1999; Alderson and Katz-Gerro, 2016).

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Results

Conclusion