Social comparison and coping among cancer patients

Abstract

Social comparison, refers to relating one´s own situation to that of others. This article presents an overview of our research program on social comparison strategies among patients with many different types of cancer. A variety of paradigms was used, including experiments, diary studies, survey studies, computer facilitated studies, and intervention studies. Social comparisons are quite common among cancer patients, because they are often confronted with anxiety, stress, and uncertainties. Patients may compare themselves with others better off (upward comparisons), for example  others who have a better prognosis, and with others worse off (downward comparisons), for example others who have a worse prognosis. Overall, upward comparisons tend to be preferred and to contribute more to well-being than downward comparisons. However, the effects of social comparison on well-being depend to an important extent on whether the focus is on identification (looking for similarities with the comparison target), or on contrast (using the other as a standard to evaluate one´s own situation). Especially upward identification and downward contrast tend to have positive effects on well-being, and to be associated with active coping. The preferences for, and the effects of,  social comparison are to a lato a large extent dependent on Social Comparison Orientation (SCO), i.e., the dispositional tendency to engage in social comparisons, and on Neuroticism, with individuals high in this trait responding more negatively to particularly upward comparison. Intervention studies based on social comparisons, in which cancer patients receive audiotaped bogus interviews with other cancer patients, show that exposure to others coping well has long-term positive effects on quality of life especially for those high in SCO. The effects of exposure to patients talking about their emotional experiences are mixed, and even negative for those high in Neuroticism. However, audiotaped social comparison information  may have especially positive effects for those who experience their cancer as very threatening.