TY - JOUR
T1 - The influence of social comparison on visual representation of one's face
AU - Zell, Ethan
AU - Balcetis, Emily
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2013 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2012/5/25
Y1 - 2012/5/25
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0036742
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0036742
M3 - Article
C2 - 22662124
AN - SCOPUS:84861476845
VL - 7
JO - PLoS One
JF - PLoS One
SN - 1932-6203
IS - 5
M1 - e36742
ER -