ArticlePerspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science2021
Comparisons Inform Me Who I Am: A General Comparative-Processing Model of Self-Perception.
Article in Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials examining social comparison as a behaviour change technique across the behavioural sciences.Nature human behaviour · 2025Pooled it
- Well-being comparisons and mental health outcomes following loss: a two-wave longitudinal study.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2026Article
- Social comparison threat and coping: affective, cognitive and behavioral outcomes in response to false performance-related feedback.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Adults have rather stable, yet domain-specific tendencies in social and temporal comparisons.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Revising Career Goals on LinkedIn: The Role of Career-Related Social Comparison and Goal Discrepancy.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Modifying the Meaning of the Upper Anchor Predictably Shapes Ratings of Perceived Effort: A Randomized Crossover Trial.Sports medicine - open · 2026Article
- The role of comparison processes in maintenance goals: Evidence from the health and relationship domains.Applied psychology. Health and well-being · 2026Article
- Effects of Reflective Processes on Social-Emotional Trait Development in Adulthood: Insights From Two Multi-Method Studies.Journal of personality · 2026Article
- Effects of congruent and incongruent appetitive and aversive well-being comparisons on depression, post-traumatic stress, and self-esteem.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2025Article
- Linear self-acceptance and nonlinear social comparison: interacting influences on adolescent depression.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Emotion regulation profiles in Syrian refugees and migrants in Germany: self-efficacy, resilience and well-being comparisons.BMJ mental health · 2024Article
- An Integrated Perspective of Effort and Perception of Effort.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2024Review
- Interpersonal comparison among caregivers of children with asthma.Psychology & health · 2024Article
- Comparison Is the Thief of Joy? Introducing the Attitudes Towards Social Comparison Inventory.Assessment · 2024Article
- Selection of social comparison standards in cardiac patients with and without experienced defibrillator shock.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Comparison standards shape everyday judgments of low and high wellbeing in individuals with and without psychopathology: a diary-based investigation.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Article
- Large studies reveal how reference bias limits policy applications of self-report measures.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Before and Amid COVID-19 Pandemic, Self-Perception of Digital Skills in Saudi Arabia Higher Education: A Longitudinal Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Too Good to be Liked? When and How Prosocial Others are Disliked.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
People's self-concept contributes to their sense of identity over time. Yet self-perception is motivated and serves survival and thus does not reflect stable inner states or accurate biographical accounts. Research indicates that different types of comparison standards act as reference frames in evaluating attributes that constitute the self. However, the role of comparisons in self-perception has been underestimated, arguably because of lack of a guiding framework that takes into account relevant aspects of comparison processes and their interdependence. I propose a general comparative model of self-perception that consists of a basic comparison process involving the individual's prior mental representation of the target dimension, the construal of the comparison standard, and the comparison outcome representing the posterior representation of the target dimension. The generated dimensional construal is then appraised with respect to one's motives and controllability and goes on to shape emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses. Contextual and personal factors influence the comparison process. This model may be informative in better understanding comparison processes in people's everyday lives and their role in shaping self-perception and in designing interventions to assist people overcome undesirable consequences of comparative behavior.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.