Feeling good after praise for a successful performance: The importance of social comparison information

This study examined the role of social comparisons in producing the satisfaction that often follows from praise. Participants received no praise, comparison-free praise (without explicit social comparison information), and social comparison praise (with explicit social comparison information) after successfully completing a challenging intellectual task. In addition, they either received or did not receive performance norms indicating superior relative performance. Praise only led to greater feelings of satisfaction compared to the no praise, norm absent condition when it was also joined with social comparison information, either provided directly through social comparison praise or through performance norms. The presence of performance norms also enhanced satisfaction. Overall, participants' perceptions of superior relative performance mediated the effects of social comparison praise and of norm information on feelings of satisfaction.

[1]  W. Klein.  Effects of Objective Feedback and “Single Other” or “Average Other” Social Comparison Feedback on Performance Judgments and Helping Behavior , 2003, Personality & social psychology bulletin.

[2]  K. E. Barron,et al.  Predicting Success in College: A Longitudinal Study of Achievement Goals and Ability Measures as Predictors of Interest and Performance From Freshman Year Through Graduation , 2002 .

[3]  J. Nicholls.  Achievement motivation: Conceptions of ability, subjective experience, task choice, and performance. , 1984 .

[4]  L. Festinger.  A Theory of Social Comparison Processes , 1954 .

[5]  Ian Stewart,et al.  To win friends and influence people , 1985, Nature.

[6]  Peter Blanck,et al.  The effects of verbal reinforcement of intrinsic motivation for sex-linked tasks , 1984 .

[7]  Justin T. Buckingham,et al.  The influence of individual versus aggregate social comparison and the presence of others on self-evaluations. , 2002, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[8]  John R. Aiello,et al.  Self-consistency, self-enhancement, and accuracy in reactions to feedback , 1995 .

[9]  S. Pearce,et al.  Selective memory for sensory and affective information in chronic pain and depression. , 1992, The British journal of clinical psychology.

[10]  D. Spalding.  The Principles of Psychology , 1873, Nature.

[11]  M. Lepper,et al.  The effects of praise on children's intrinsic motivation: a review and synthesis. , 2002, Psychological bulletin.

[12]  E. Deci.  Effects of Externally Mediated Rewards on Intrinsic Motivation. , 1971 .

[13]  Daniel W. Russell,et al.  The cognition–emotion process in achievement-related contexts. , 1979 .

[14]  H. Kelley.  Attribution in social interaction. , 1987 .

[15]  P. Winne,et al.  Feedback and Self-Regulated Learning: A Theoretical Synthesis , 1995 .

[16]  Otto Zinser,et al.  The influence of verbal reward on intrinsic motivation in children. , 1982 .

[17]  C. Dweck,et al.  Goals: an approach to motivation and achievement. , 1988, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[18]  D. Watson,et al.  Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. , 1988, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[19]  R. Koestner,et al.  Attributional style, comparison focus of praise, and intrinsic motivation ☆ , 1990 .

[20]  A. Bandura.  Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control , 1997, Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy.

[21]  S. B. Nolen,et al.  Reasons for studying: Motivational orientations and study strategies. , 1988 .

[22]  H. Kelley.  Attribution theory in social psychology , 1967 .

[23]  Clive Seligman,et al.  Affect and the overjustification effect. , 1984 .

[24]  J. V. Wood,et al.  How important is social comparison , 2003 .

[25]  Deborah A. Prentice,et al.  The construction of social norms and standards. , 1996 .

[26]  N. Weinstein.  Unrealistic optimism about future life events , 1980 .

[27]  M. L. Klotz,et al.  Personal contact, individuation, and the better-than-average effect. , 1995 .

[28]  B. R. Schlenker,et al.  The strategic control of information: Impression management and self-presentation in daily life. , 2000 .

[29]  K. Connor,et al.  Sex and Age Differences in Response to Informational and Controlling Feedback , 1988 .

[30]  M. Alicke.  Global self-evaluation as determined by the desirability and controllability of trait adjectives. , 1985 .

[31]  R. H. Smith,et al.  Knowledge-based information acquisition: norms and the functions of consensus information. , 1988, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[32]  W M Klein.  Objective standards are not enough: affective, self-evaluative, and behavioral responses to social comparison information. , 1997, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[33]  Dale T. Miller,et al.  Self-serving biases in the attribution of causality: Fact or fiction? , 1975 .

[34]  Chester A. Insko,et al.  Extension of the Kelley Attribution Model: The Role of Comparison-Object Consensus, Target-Object Consensus, Distinctiveness, and Consistency. , 1980 .

[35]  Knowledge‐based causal inference: Norms and the usefulness of distinctiveness , 1992 .

[36]  E. E. Jones.  Attribution: Perceiving the Causes of Behavior , 1987 .

[37]  J M Harackiewicz,et al.  Achievement goals and optimal motivation: testing multiple goal models. , 2001, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[38]  C. Dweck,et al.  A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality , 1988 .

[39]  Roy F. Baumeister,et al.  Praise: More Than Just Social Reinforcement , 1994 .

[40]  Donn Byrne,et al.  When “I like you” indicates disagreement an experimental differentiation of information and affect , 1974 .

[41]  R. Koestner,et al.  Praise, involvement, and intrinsic motivation. , 1987 .

[42]  M. Ginsberg.  Human Nature and the Social Order , 1941, Nature.

[43]  Thane S. Pittman,et al.  Initiating Play Activity of Children: The Moderating Influence of Verbal Cues on Intrinsic Motivation. , 1977 .

[44]  C. Dweck,et al.  Goals: an approach to motivation and achievement. , 1988, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[45]  Chester A. Insko,et al.  The extra credit effect in interpersonal attraction , 1978 .

[46]  David Dunning,et al.  Social Judgment as Implicit Social Comparison , 2000 .

[47]  D. Ruble,et al.  Competence and the overjustification effect: A developmental study. , 1979 .

[48]  Richard H. Smith.  Assimilative and Contrastive Emotional Reactions to Upward and Downward Social Comparisons , 2000 .

[49]  E. Deci.  INTRINSIC MOTIVATION, EXTRINSIC REINFORCEMENT, AND INEQUITY , 1972 .

[50]  Robert Liebendorfer.  Mind, self and society , 1960 .

[51]  J. Meece,et al.  Students' goal orientations and cognitive engagement in classroom activities , 1988 .

[52]  Bram P. Buunk,et al.  Handbook of social comparison: Theory and research , 2000 .

[53]  Carole A. Ames.  Classrooms: Goals, structures, and student motivation. , 1992 .

[54]  Robin R. Vallacher,et al.  The self in social psychology , 1980 .

[55]  Carole A. Ames,et al.  Achievement Goals in the Classroom: Students' Learning Strategies and Motivation Processes , 1988 .

[56]  J. Harackiewicz.  The effects of reward contingency and performance feedback on intrinsic motivation. , 1979 .