Focus of Comparison as a Determinant of Assimilation Versus Contrast in Social Comparison

By Thomas Mussweiler. 2001

144 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Subfields: Applied Psychology, Social Psychology, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/3e81241e694e713d281ace7db2dd19ba9c2ca5e0

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Applied Psychology

1. Richard E. Petty
2. Arie W. Kruglanski
3. S. Wheeler
4. E. Tory Higgins
5. Aner Sela
6. Manuela López
7. Mariafrancesca Sicilia
8. Gordon Hodson

In Social Psychology

1. S. Loughnan
2. Gordon Hodson
3. P. V. van Lange
4. Richard E. Petty
5. S. Wheeler
6. E. Tory Higgins
7. Arie W. Kruglanski
8. Kimberly Costello

In Sociology and Political Science

1. Richard E. Petty
2. Gordon Hodson
3. S. Loughnan
4. E. Tory Higgins
5. P. V. van Lange
6. Arie W. Kruglanski
7. S. Wheeler
8. Brock Bastian

Citations in the corpus

• Reputation gaps and the performance of service organizations (2009, background): “Assimilationcontrast theory argues that the size of the difference between the reference point and the entity’s performance determines which effect ensues (Mussweiler, 2001).”
• eWOM as Source of Influence: The Impact of Participation in eWOM and Perceived Source Trustworthiness on Decision Making (2014, background): “Receivers can better identify with sources that are similar to themselves (Kelman 1961; Mussweiler 2001) as they implicitly assume that similar people have similar needs and preferences (Brown and Reingen 1987; Festinger 1954; Kamins 1990).”
• The effects of stereotype activation on behavior: a review of possible mechanisms. (2001, background): “Additionally, the use of the prime as a comparison standard increases the likelihood of contrast (e.g., Higgins, 1989; Stapel & Koomen, 2001b), though the focus of the comparison (self or standard) can moderate the effect (Mussweiler, 2000).”
• Navigating uneven terrain : the roles of political skill and LMX differentiation in prediction of work relationship quality and work outcomes. (2016, background): “More specifically, the assimilation-contrast model of social comparison (e.g., Mussweiler, 2001; Mussweiler, Rüter & Epstude, 2004; Pelham & Wachmuth, 1995) suggests that social comparisons that emphasize similarities lead to assimilation, whereas comparisons that focus on dissimilarities lead to…”
• We Are Not the Same as You and I: Causal Effects of Minor Language Variations on Consumers' Attitudes toward Brands (2012, background): “However, the initial direction of comparison (i.e., whether people seek similarity between language and a distance vs. closeness standard) might bias information processing because evidence supporting the initial comparison object may become more accessible in memory (Mussweiler 2001, 2003).”
• When Closing the Human–Animal Divide Expands Moral Concern (2012, background): “That is, when the more salient or prominent entity is the referent, and the less salient or prominent entity is the subject of comparison, perceived similarity increases (Tversky & Gati, 1978).”
• Comparison processes in social judgment: mechanisms and consequences. (2003, background): “Consistent with this reasoning, much of the previously described empirical support for the selective accessibility mechanism actually stems from spontaneous comparison paradigms (e.g., Mussweiler, 2001c; Mussweiler & Bodenhausen, 2002).”
• Handbook of Theories of Social Psychology (2011, background): “Third and finally, in the wide field of social comparison, several works have attested to the existence of a phenomenon of asymmetry in the comparison of the self to others (see Holyoak and Gordon, 1983; Mussweiller, 2001; Srull and Gaellick, 1983).”