James A. Kulik

Times for college women in an exercise facility to begin working out on a target apparatus were unobtrusively recorded under three nearby peer conditions: fit peer, unfit peer, or no peer. In 116 trials, approach times were significantly faster in the unfit compared to the no-peer and fit-peer conditions, which did not differ significantly. Of those who approached (N = 75), neither exercise time nor post-exercise body satisfaction differed by condition. The results provide the first evidence that women in a naturalistic environment, when possible, manage their comparison opportunities and do so in a manner that may maintain body satisfaction.

Objective: Although exposure to thin‐ideal females in the media has been shown to increase women's body dissatisfaction, only a few studies have examined the effects of comparisons with peers, and no prior work has studied the effects of peer comparisons in a naturalistic setting or on objective behavior.Method: Female undergraduates (n = 45) in a campus gym who exercised on a target apparatus were assigned to have a fit‐peer, unfit‐peer, or no‐peer (control) exercise within their view on a nearby apparatus. Objective time spent exercising and body satisfaction reports were collected.Results: Exposure to a fit peer had undermining effects on women's body satisfaction and exercise duration, whereas an unfit peer produced no compensating greater body satisfaction but did elicit longer exercise duration relative to controls.Conclusion: Incidental comparisons with fit versus unfit peers can affect women's body satisfaction and fitness‐related behavior in a naturalistic setting. © 2007 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 2007

This article reports the findings of a quasi-experimental study that represents the first attempt to systematically examine the possibility that contact with fellow patients after cosmetic surgery significantly influences a patient's postoperative emotional well-being and satisfaction with care. Patients were assigned to rooms that either facilitated ample postoperative contact with other patients (n = 70) or to rooms that were physically located in a manner that afforded little inter-patient contact (n = 9). The results indicate that whereas postoperative depression levels did not differ, patients in the high-patient-contact condition experienced less postoperative anxiety and greater overall satisfaction with their quality of care than did patients in the low-patient-contact condition. Analyses of patients' reported postoperative affiliations suggest several additional benefits of inter-patient contact, such as added emotional support, reduction of uncertainty about what to expect, and the opportunity to compare progress and emotional reactions. The results are consistent with a growing literature that suggests fellow patients can and do serve a useful, adjunctive role in health care. Questions for future research are considered. (Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 106: 1407, 2000.)

Males performed a task and then were led to believe they had performed worse, the same, or better than another male who appeared to be advantaged, similar, or disadvantaged with respect to performance-related attributes. When presented simultaneously with relative performance information, the comparison other's related attributes had surprisingly little impact on subjects' affective reactions (Experiment 1), even when attention was directed explicitly to the related attribute information (Experiment 2). When the comparison other's related attribute information was considered prior to the relative performance information, however, the related attribute information did have an impact on affective reactions (Experiment 3). The related attributes of another person may thus have a more circumscribed influence on one's affective reactions to performance than generally expected. Possible moderating and mediating factors are discussed.

This study extends stress and affiliation research by examining the effects of preoperative roommate assignments on the affiliation patterns, preoperative anxiety, and postoperative recovery of 84 male coronary-bypass patients. Patients were assigned preoperatively to a room alone or to a semiprivate room with a roommate who was either cardiac or noncardiac and either preoperative or postoperative. Patients assigned to a roommate who was postoperative rather than preoperative were less anxious, were more ambulatory postoperatively, and had shorter postoperative stays. Independently, patients were more ambulatory postoperatively and were discharged sooner if assigned to a roommate who was cardiac rather than noncardiac. No-roommate patients generally had the slowest recoveries. Affiliations reflecting cognitive clarity concerns, emotional comparison, and emotional support were examined. Theoretical implications for research involving social comparison and affiliation under threat are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

This study examined the emotional similarity hypothesis--a derivation from social comparison theory, which predicts that increasing fear should lead to greater affiliation with someone who is awaiting the same threat (and who therefore is of relatively similar emotional status) relative to someone who has already experienced the threat (and who therefore is of relatively dissimilar emotional status). The results failed to support the emotional similarity hypothesis and in so doing challenged the importance of emotional comparison as a determinant of verbal affiliation under threat. Cognitive clarity concerns instead seemed to account better for the observed effects on verbal affiliation. Supplementary analyses of nonverbal affiliation (facial glances) likewise ran counter to an emotional similarity prediction. Effects of affiliation on anxiety were also examined. Previous conclusions regarding the pattern and causes of affiliation under threat that have relied on the affiliate-choice paradigm are considered.

Fifty-three preoperative men were studied who were assigned to a hospital roommate who varied in terms of the similarity of the roommate's health problem and surgical status. The similarity of a roommate's particular type of health problem to that of the patient exerted little detectable influence. However, patients assigned to a preoperative roommate were more anxious compared with those assigned a postoperative or nonsurgical roommate. Affiliation was also significantly greater with fellow preoperative roommates compared with postoperative roommates. The possibility that the obtained roommate effects on anxiety are mediated directly by affiliation is explored. Additional mechanisms and theoretical implications for basic research involving social comparison, stress, and affiliation relationships are discussed. Practical considerations for hospital policy also are considered.