The Bittersweet Taste of Success: Daily and Recalled Experiences of Being an Upward Social Comparison Target

Abstract

Outperforming others can provide psychological benefits but may also result in interpersonal costs. Two studies examined reactions to being an upward comparison (UC) target. Study 1 used event-contingent diaries and found that undergraduates’ concerns for the outperformed person's response corresponded to lower positive affect and higher negative affect. Study 2 recruited participants via the Internet to recall particularly important instances of being a UC target. Results revealed that concerns about the other's response were linked to negative reactions, whereas perceiving the outperformed person as upset was linked to positive reactions (when concerns about the outperformed person's response were statistically controlled). Additional analyses suggested trait social anxiety as a potential moderator. Although outperforming others may feel good, the good feelings may diminish when people are concerned about the outperformed person's response.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Funding from the University Council for Research and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Small Institutions Grant at St. Francis Xavier partially supported Study 1. A portion of the data from Study 2 formed the basis of Kathleen Metcalfe's honors thesis.

We thank Julie Exline, Heather Patrick, and Ladd Wheeler for sharing their helpful materials and instructions. We also thank the following research assistants: Christine Bandy, Jenna Benere, Erica Coutts, Mandy Kessler, Krissy MacInnis, and Sara Seward. We thank Nancy Frye and James Shepperd for their comments.

Notes

¹Consistent with prior literature (Exline & Lobel, 1999), this article includes interchangeable use of the term “STTUC” as a noun and adjective. An individual may experience STTUC or be STTUC.

Note. STTUC = Sensitivity About Being the Target of a Threatening Upward Comparison.

²Reliability figures were calculated across the full sample (W. Fleeson, personal communication, December 2, 2007).

Note. Coefficients represent unstandardized betas. STTUC = Sensitivity About Being the Target of a Threatening Upward Comparison.

*p < .05.

Note. STTUC = Sensitivity About Being the Target of a Threatening Upward Comparison.

Note. STTUC = Sensitivity About Being the Target of a Threatening Upward Comparison.

†p < .10. *p < .05. **p < .01.

Note. STTUC = Sensitivity About Being the Target of a Threatening Upward Comparison.

**p < .01.

Note. STTUC = Sensitivity About Being the Target of a Threatening Upward Comparison.

^† p < .10. *p < .05. **p < .01.

³We thank an anonymous reviewer for suggesting this possibility.