title: The role of social comparison in social judgments of dental appearance: An experimental study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to examine the influence of social comparison on social judgments of dental malalignment in a sample of females.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a Repeated measures design, N=218 female participants of which N=128 were orthodontic patients (mean age 31.4) and N=90 controls (mean age 26.1) rated their satisfaction with their facial appearance after viewing stereotypically beautiful images of faces (experimental condition) or houses (neutral condition). After 4-6 weeks participants returned to view an image of a female with severe crowding and were asked to make judgments of social competence (SC), intellectual ability (IA), psychological adjustment (PA) and attractiveness (A).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The comparison of social judgments between high comparers (High SocComp) and low comparers (Low SocComp) was not statistically significant; (SC (t (204)=0.30, p=0.76), IA (t (204)=0.14, p=0.89) PA (t (204)=0.004, p=0.996), A (t(204)=1.26, (p=0.209). However, dentally induced social judgments (DISJ) was statistically significant in the clinical sample than the non-clinical sample SC (t (204)=0.784, p=0.434), IA (t (204)=0.2.15, p=0.033) PA (t (204)=-0.003, p=0.997) A (t (204)=1.58, p=0.116).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Social comparison has little impact on DISJ. However, there are differences in DISJs between individuals who seek treatment for their malocclusion versus the nonclinical population; the reason for this is unclear but does not appear to be the result of adoption of societal standards of beauty and instead suggests individual ranking of important 'beauty areas' may play a role.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This paper uses social comparison theory to investigate the basis of judgments in regards to dental appearance. The findings of this research may help to identify individuals who are more susceptible to societal pressures towards non-ideal dentitions. This will help clinicians become more aware of the patient's comparison orientation, which seems to have an impact on satisfaction with treatment outcomes. This study may form the foundation for future behaviour studies seeking to alleviate the negative effects of social comparison.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Social and Behavioural Sciences, King's College London, Floor 18, Tower Wing, Guy's Hospital, London SE1 9RW, United Kingdom. Electronic address: ghada.al-kharboush@kcl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Ghada H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Al-Kharboush
authors.affiliation: Unit of Social and Behavioural Sciences, King's College London, Floor 18, Tower Wing, Guy's Hospital, London SE1 9RW, United Kingdom. Electronic address: koula.asimakopoulou@kcl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Koula
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Asimakopoulou
authors.affiliation: King Saud University, Dental College, Department of Paediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: aaljabaa@ksu.edu.sa.
authors.forename: AlJazi H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: AlJabaa
authors.affiliation: Unit of Social and Behavioural Sciences, King's College London, Floor 18, Tower Wing, Guy's Hospital, London SE1 9RW, United Kingdom. Electronic address: Tim.newton@kcl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: J Tim
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Newton
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001504:Beauty; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D004955:Esthetics, Dental / Q000523:psychology*; D005006:Ethnicity; D005145:Face / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D000066499:Facial Recognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000145:classification / Q000628:therapy; D009970:Orthodontics; D009971:Orthodontics, Corrective; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012923:Social Class; D012938:Social Perception; D066107:Social Skills; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom