Assimilation and contrast in social comparisons as a consequence of self-construal activation

✍ Scribed by Ulrich Kühnen; Bettina Hannover

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 133 KB
• Volume: 30
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0046-2772
• DOI: 10.1002/1099-0992(200011/12)30:6<799::aid-ejsp16>3.0.co;2-2

✦ Synopsis

We extended existing research about self-construal activation to the study of social comparisons, speci®cally to self±other similarity ratings. Independent self-knowledge substantiates the notion of dissimilarity, whereas interdependent self-knowledge implies similarity with others. Therefore, perceived self±other similarity was predicted to decrease after independent and increase after interdependent self-knowledge priming. However, we expected such assimilation eects to occur only if the priming was subtle, but contrast eects if it was overt. In order to test this hypothesis, we developed a scrambled sentences test for priming the respective self-knowledge. The unscrambled sentences described the self either in terms of independence or interdependence. The subtlety of this priming was manipulated by having participants write down either the full sentences (overt priming) or only the remaining word in each item (subtle priming). Results con®rmed the predictions. Underlying cognitive processes of the eects are discussed.