Social comparison and optimism about one's relational future: order effects in social judgment
✍ Scribed by Bram P. Buunk
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1998
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 142 KB
- Volume
- 28
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0046-2772
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
This research tested the hypothesis that when individuals ®rst answer a question about relative evaluation, i.e. the degree in which they feel they are better or worse o than comparison others and next a question about general evaluation, i.e. the general judgment of one's situation or one's characteristics, the correlations between both variables will be higher than when the order of the questions is reversed. In the ®rst case individuals will use social comparison information as a reference point for making a judgment of their situation, whereas general evaluations not preceded by relative evaluations may be based on a variety of factors. The content of the questions concerned optimism with respect to one's own prospects concerning intimate relationships, i.e. the perceived chances of having a happy intimate relationship in the future, and the perceived chance of not becoming involved in a divorce. The results of two studiesÐ a questionnaire study among students (n 274), and a computer administered survey among single adults (n 275)Ðcon®rmed the predictions.