The influence of social comparison on visual representation of one's face.
Can the effects of social comparison extend beyond explicit evaluation to visual self-representation--a perceptual stimulus that is objectively verifiable, unambiguous, and frequently updated? We morphed images of participants' faces with attractive and unattractive references. With access to a mirror, participants selected the morphed image they perceived as depicting their face. Participants who engaged in upward comparison with relevant attractive targets selected a less attractive morph compared to participants exposed to control images (Study 1). After downward comparison with relevant unattractive targets compared to control images, participants selected a more attractive morph (Study 2). Biased representations were not the products of cognitive accessibility of beauty constructs; comparisons did not influence representations of strangers' faces (Study 3). We discuss implications for vision, social comparison, and body image.
Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina, United States of America. e_zell@uncg.edu
Ethan
E
Zell
Emily
E
Balcetis
D001828:Body Image; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D012649:Self Concept