Abstract

A self-regulation theory of social comparisons processes, which assumed interaction effects of goal-setting and commitment for social comparison, was proposed and the derived hypothesis in choice of comparison target were tested through a laboratory experiment. A 3(goal-setting for social comparison: self-promotion, self-assessment, self-enhancement) x 3(performance feedback: success, similar, failure) x 2(certainty of feedback: certain, uncertain) completely randomized factorial design was used. Two hundred seventy college students were randomly assigned to one of the 18 experimental conditions. The results showed that the hypothesized three main effects were confirmed and, more importantly, the hypothesized 3-way interaction was confirmed. In accordance with the hypothesis, more upward social comparison targets were chosen in self-promotion goal/certain/success feedback condition than any other condition. Choice percentage of similar other was the highest in uncertain/similar performance feedback condition, compared to other condition. It was also revealed that more downward comparison targets were chosen in self-enhancement goal/certain/failure feedback condition than any other condition. The result also strongly suggested that social comparison motivation was an important mediator between the antecedent variables and the choice of comparison target. The self­-regulation theory of social comparison, which was proposed in this paper, and the obtained results were discussed in term of the theories and results of the previous studies. The limitations of the study and suggestions for future study were also discussed.