When better-than-others
compare upward: Choice of comparison and comparative evaluation as independent
predictors of academic performance
Hart Blanton, Bram P. Buunk,
Frederick X. Gibbons, Hans Kuyper
(1999) Journal of Personality
& Social Psychology, 76(3), 420-430.
Social comparison theory has
linked improved performance to both the tendency to compare with others who are
performing well and the tendency to view the self as better than others. However, little research has investigated the
effects of either variable outside of a controlled laboratory environment. Moreover, there is reason to believe that the
2 tendencies would be in opposition to one another, because people who compare
upward might subsequently view themselves as relatively less competent. The results of a longitudinal study of 876
students in their 1st year of secondary education indicated that
both variables independently predicted improved academic performance and that
these 2 tendencies did not conflict.