Wood J V, Taylor S E, Lichtman R R
J Pers Soc Psychol. 1985 Nov;49(5):1169-83. doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.49.5.1169.
We investigated four theoretical perspectives concerning the role of social comparison (Festinger, 1954) in coping with a threatening event in a sample of breast cancer patients. According to the supercoper perspective, personal contact with comparison others is often unavailable to patients, and contact with media "supercopers"--fellow victims presented as adjusting very smoothly--may make patients feel inadequate by comparison. According to the similarity perspective, patients select comparison targets who are similar to themselves because those comparisons should be the most informative. The upward comparison perspective is predictive of comparisons to relatively advantaged or superior individuals. The downward comparison perspective leads to the prediction that under conditions of threat, individuals make comparisons to people who are inferior or less fortunate in order to enhance their self-esteem. We interviewed 78 breast cancer patients, and results of both closed-ended questions and spontaneously offered comparisons yielded a preponderance of downward comparisons. The results point to the value of using naturalistic methods for studying comparisons, and suggest a more active and cognitive role for social comparison than is usually portrayed.
我们在一组乳腺癌患者样本中，研究了关于社会比较（费斯汀格，1954年）在应对威胁性事件中作用的四种理论观点。根据超级应对者观点，患者往往无法与比较对象进行个人接触，而与媒体“超级应对者”——被呈现为适应得非常顺利的同病患者——接触可能会让患者相比之下感到自己不足。根据相似性观点，患者会选择与自己相似的比较对象，因为这些比较应该最具参考价值。向上比较观点预测会与相对更有优势或更优越的个体进行比较。向下比较观点则预测，在受到威胁的情况下，个体为了增强自尊会与比自己差或运气没自己好的人进行比较。我们采访了78名乳腺癌患者，封闭式问题的结果和自发进行的比较都显示向下比较占多数。结果表明采用自然主义方法研究比较的价值，并表明社会比较所起的作用比通常所描述的更积极且更具认知性。
