SELF-EVALUATION EFFECTS OF INTERPERSONAL VERSUS INTERGROUP SOCIAL-COMPARISON

Two studies tested the prediction that the outcome of social compariso n will differ depending on whether interpersonal or intergroup compari son processes have been engaged. Results of an experiment in which col lege student participants were assigned to membership in a minority or majority social category confirmed the predicted three-way interactio n effect of in-group salience, target group membership, and upward-dow nward comparison on self-assessments of academic ability. Majority gro up members exhibited contrast effects in their self-ratings following exposure to a videotape of an in-group member displaying either very h igh or very low academic competence. Self-evaluations of minority grou p members revealed assimilation effects in response to in-group compar isons and contrast effects in response to out-group comparisons. In a second, follow-up experiment, this in-group assimilation effect was fo und to be dependent on intergroup contrast.