Challenge and threat responses during downward and upward social comparisons

We examined cardiovascular responses indicating challenge and threat during social comparisons. Experiment I manipulated comparison direction (i.e. up ward/downward) within a cooperative social interaction, during which we mea sured cardiovascular responses, evaluations of demands and resources, and s elf-reports. Participants interacting with upward comparison partners evalu ated the task as more 'threatening' (demands relative to resources) than pa rticipants cooperating with downward comparison partners. Moreover, partici pants cooperating with upward comparison partners exhibited cardiovascular reactivity consistent with threat (i.e. increased ventricle contractility, no changes in cardiac output, and vasoconstriction). In contrast, participa nts interacting with downward comparison partners exhibited challenge respo nses (i.e. increased contractility, increased cardiac output, and vasodilat ion). This basic finding was extended in Experiment 2 with the examination of a classic moderator of social comparison, attitudinal similarity, of the comparison partner Participants paired with attitudinally dissimilar partn ers exhibited exacerbated reactions relative to participants paired with at titudinally similar partners. That is, relative to similar partners, dissim ilar partners engendered greater threat responses during upward comparisons and a tendency toward greater challenge responses during downward comparis ons. These results are discussed within an assimilative/contrast model of s ocial comparisons. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.