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Updated: Sep 15, 2025

The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies
Published on: August 25, 2023
The influence of social comparison on risk decision-making for self and groups in intergroup contexts
Lingchao Sun1,2, Yilin Xiao1, Wenxu Mao1
1School of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Ji'nan, Shandong, China.
Objective:
The current study aims to explore the influence of social comparison on risk decision-making for self and for groups in intergroup contexts.
Method:
Two experiments with the within-subjects design of 2 (social comparison: upward comparison, downward comparison) × 3 (decision-maker role: for "me", for "us", for "them") were conducted in this study. Experiment 1 focused on the ingroup contexts, and experiment 2 focused on the outgroup contexts.
Results:
(1) in outgroup contexts, individuals are more risk-seeking in upward comparison conditions than in downward comparison conditions. However, the difference disappears in ingroup contexts. (2) Making decisions for "them" is riskier than making decisions for "me" and for "us" with no significant differences between the latter two and consistent across intergroup contexts. (3) The difference in risk decisions made amid upward and downward comparisons is amplified for decisions made for groups.
Conclusion:
The findings may support the selective accessibility model and provide an interpretation with responsibility alleviation for self-group differences in risk decision-making.
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