Downward comparison in close relationships : a blessing in disguise?

All in all, the experimental studies presented in the present thesis support the argument that the consequences of downward comparison amount to a mixed blessing. On the one hand, when someone engages in downward comparison, he or she may feel better about his or her own situation. In particular when a relationship partner is subject to relational discontent, downward comparison appears to alleviate his or her condition if that individual also possesses a strong personality disposition to engage in social comparison. However, the other side of the coin is that such an evaluation is made at the expense of other people who are worse-off. In other words, the evaluator profits by the social comparison activities because it may provide him or her with a superior status of someone who lives a relatively successful life, whereas the inferior comparison targets are in fact considered as individuals whose lives are less enjoyable and less successful. Self-enhancers especially, who engage in overt downward social comparison behavior seem to run a risk of offending others which, in turn, may turn the tide against the self-enhancers as those others develop an antipathy for the evaluator through which future social interaction could be frustrated.