Does social comparison make a difference? Optimism as a moderator of the impact of
comparison level on outcome.
Frederick X. Gibbons, Hart Blanton, Meg Gerrard, Bram Buunk, Tami
J. Eggleston
(1999) Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, 954-965.
Previous research has demonstrated that poor academic performance
is associated with a "downward shift" in preferred level of academic
social comparison (ACL). The current study assessed the long-term impact of
this downward shift on the academic performance of college students, and also
examined the extent to which optimism moderated the relation between ACL and
performance. Results indicated that a decline in academic performance led to a
decline in preferred ACL, but only among students who were low in dispositional
optimism. Change in ACL, in turn, was prospectively linked (positively) with
change in academic performance for low optimists and marginally for high
optimists. Additional analyses suggested this relation was mediated by performance
expectations. Finally, change in ACL was also indirectly linked with depression
for low optimists. Thus, low optimists who raised the ACLs had higher
subsequent GPAs and they experienced a decrease in depression. The relations
between levels of preferred comparison and outcome, and possible mediators of
these relations, are discussed.