The affective consequences of
social comparison as related to professional burnout and social comparison
orientation
Bram P. Buunk, Jan F. Ybema,
Frederick X. Gibbons, Marielouise Ipenburg
(2001) European Journal of
Social Psychology, 31(4), 337-351.
Examined the affective
consequences of social comparison and related them to professional burnout and
to individual differences in social comparison orientation. 91 sociotherapists (aged 22-55 yrs) completed
a questionnaire that consisted of 2 parts.
Part 1 contained measures for burnout and social comparison
orientation. Part 2 was an experimental
section where Ss were confronted with a bogus interview with an upward vs a
downward comparison target. Results show
that upward comparison generated more positive and less negative affect than
did downward comparison. Increasing
levels of burnout were accompanied by less positive affect in response to
upward comparison. Moreover, the higher
the level of burnout, the more negative affect a description of a downward
comparison target evoked, but only among individuals high in social comparison
orientation. Finally, the higher the
level of burnout, the higher the identification with the downward target, and
the lower the identification with the upward target. However, this last effect did occur only among
those low in social comparison orientation.
Those high in social comparison orientation kept identifying with the
upward target, even when they were high in burnout.