Ki. Vanderzee et al., SOCIAL-COMPARISON AS A MEDIATOR BETWEEN HEALTH-PROBLEMS AND SUBJECTIVE HEALTH EVALUATIONS, British journal of social psychology, 34, 1995, pp. 53-65
The role of social comparison in mediating the relation between 'objec
tive' health status and subjective health evaluations was examined. In
a random population sample (N = 361) it was shown that health problem
s were related to psychological distress, which in turn induced a down
ward comparison process. This downward comparison resulted in a percep
tion of being better off than others in a similar situation (relative
evaluation). While both health problems and psychological distress had
strong direct effects on general health evaluations, relative evaluat
ions explained further significant variance. In addition, it was found
that although women reported more psychological and physical problems
than men, they engaged more often in downward comparison and consiste
ntly felt more than men did that their health was better than that of
most others. No gender differences in general health evaluations were
found. Interestingly, social comparison had a stronger impact on the g
eneral subjective well-being of women than of men.