COMPARISON DIRECTION AND COMPARISON DIMENSION AMONG DISABLED INDIVIDUALS - TOWARD A REFINED CONCEPTUALIZATION OF SOCIAL-COMPARISON UNDER STRESS

In a sample of 168 Dutch individual falling under the Disablement Insu rance Act, it was found that (a) uncertainty and frustration were rela ted to a need for social comparison; (b) the desire for information ab out similar others was stronger than the desire for affiliation with s uch others; (c) the evaluation of one's situation was particularly aff ected by health problem; and independently by the perception of being worse off than others; (d) there was a relatively stronger preference for contact with, and information about, others who were better off am ong those evaluating their own situation negatively; (e) individuals w ere more interested in obtaining information about comparable others w ho were coping better than in talking to such others; and (f) there we re stronger upward preferences on the coping dimension than on the pro blem severity dimension. The results are discussed in the context of T aylor and Lobel's model.