The person who out performs me is a genius
Maintaining perceived competence in upward social comparison
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6205635 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mark D Alicke (0000-0002-1060-2510, Ohio University), Frank M Loschiavo (0000-0002-4621-5416), Jennifer Zerbst, Jennifer I Zerbst, Haobo Zhang (0000-0003-0086-4856), Shaobo Zhang (0000-0003-0242-7924) |
| Year | 1997 |
| Volume | 73 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 781-789 |
| Publication date | 1997-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-3514 • E-ISSN: 1939-1315 |
| Publisher | American Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1037//0022-3514.73.4.781 |
| PMID | 9325593 |
| OpenAlex | W2069807112 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 38 |
| References cited | 9 |
People have many ways of protecting themselves against unfavorable social comparisons. Sometimes, however, the unfavorableness of a comparison is too unambiguous to deny. In such circumstances, people may indirectly protect their self-images by exaggerating the ability of those who outperform them. Aggrandizing the outperformer is conceived to be a construal mechanism that permits inferior performers to deflect the self-esteem threat of being outperformed while maintaining believability. The tendency to exaggerate an outperformer's ability was demonstrated in a context in which subjects learned they had been outperformed by a confederate on a perceptual intelligence test. Subjects' and observers' ratings of the confederate's intelligence showed that subjects consistently rated the confederate more favorably than did observers. Using a similar methodology in which subjects outperformed confederates, another study showed that subjects exaggerated the ability of the people they outperformed. The conditions in which these effects are most likely to be obtained are discussed.
Competence (human resources · Construal level theory · Developmental psychology · Genius · Perception · Personality · Social change · Social comparison theory · Social competence · Social perception · Cultural Differences and Values · Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology · Social Representations and Identity
Self-enhancement and self-protection
Prospects, Pitfalls, and Plans
Influence via Comparison-Driven Self-Evaluation and Restoration
Private gain, social strain
The influence of outcome desirability on optimism
Self-Enhancement
A Newer Look
CEO-COB prestige distance and change in diversification
Trapped in Online Comparisons
Leadership shaping social comparison to improve performance
Negative upward comparison and relative deprivation
For me or for others? The better-than-average effect and negative feelings toward average others during the Covid-19 pandemic
Tendencies for Comparing Up and Down
The Reasonable Person Standard
The influence of individual versus aggregate social comparison and the presence of others on self-evaluations
The focusing effect of self-evaluation threat in coaction and social comparison
My worst faults and misdeeds
Measure by Measure
The motivation to maintain favorable identities
Cultural and Intellectual Openness Differentially Relate to Social Judgments of Potential Work Partners
Outstanding others vs. mediocre me
Compensatory Self-Presentation in Upward Comparison Situations
The Genius Effect
No Confederates Needed
Social Comparison and Interpersonal Attraction
Studies in social comparison—Introduction and overview
Why we are fairer than others
Social comparison after success and failure
Factors determining choice of a comparison other
Threat as a determinant of downward comparison
Coming to terms with failure
A Theory of Social Comparison Processes
Theory and research concerning social comparisons of personal attributes
| Unique citing works | 24 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,41 |
| Citation span | 1999 - 2025 (27) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 33 |