The Impact of Social Comparisons After Failure: The Moderating Effects of Perceived Control

It was proposed that the impact of upward and downward social comparisons on affect and behavior following failure is moderated by perceived control. Subjects who failed an initial test were led to believe that it was either possible or impossible to improve performance on a second test and were exposed to information indicating that others either had done better or had done worse on the first test. As predicted, those who believed that they had little control over their subsequent outcomes and who were exposed to upward comparisons reported greater depressive and hostile affect and persisted less on the second task relative to other subjects. In addition, subjects who had low perceived control showed more interest in additional comparison information when they believed that others had done worse than when they believed that others had done better. Those who believed that they had high control did not show this preference. Findings suggest that upward comparison is debilitating only when accompanied by low perceived control. Further, exposure to downward comparison information may prevent some of the negative effects that have previously been associated with low personal control.