Dimensional comparison theory (DCT; Möller & Marsh: Psychological Review, 120 (3), 544–
560), first formulated 10 years ago, describes individuals' internal comparison processes …

Background Comparative thinking about one's well-being is ubiquitous. Comparisons that
threaten an individual's self-motives are aversive and interact with rumination and …

Purpose Aversive appearance-related comparisons (ie, threatening one's own motives)
show stronger associations with depression, psychological well-being, and self-esteem than …

People constantly compare their appearance and well-being to that of other individuals.
However, a measure of social comparison of well-being is lacking and existing appearance …

Many individuals who encounter potentially traumatic events go on to develop symptoms of
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Research suggests that survivors of traumatic events …

Background Anxiety is a prevalent mental health condition. Comparisons of one's own well-
being to different aversive standards may contribute to the development and maintenance of …

Social perceivers tend to exaggerate existing differences between groups, a phenomenon
known as intergroup accentuation. In two preregistered experiments, we tested the …

Objective Frame‐of‐reference theories suggest that individuals use different comparison
types to evaluate their well‐being. Research indicates that the frequency of aversive well …

Social comparison has a significant impact on individuals' motivation, affect, and behavior.
However, we lack a scale that captures individual differences in attitudes toward social …

Emerging evidence highlights the role of social comparison in competition and cooperation,
yet the dynamics among competitiveness, cooperativeness, and social comparison …