The Effect Of Downside Social Comparison On Implicit Appearance Self-evaluation Of High Appearance-anxious Female College Students Under Self-affirmation Initiation

Wills(1981)proposed a downside social comparison theory based on previous research.He argued that when individuals face negative life events,their mental health level and self-esteem are affected;in order to release the negative effects,individuals tend to seek out worse objects for comparison,especially for individuals with high appearance anxiety.But the risky nature of social comparison may cause them to encounter threats from the physical appearance domain and even further exacerbate body dissatisfaction.In contrast,according to self-affirmation theory,self wholeness can be maintained by affirming self-worth and traits that are unrelated to the threat domain,thus reducing defensive reactions(Steele,1988).However,few studies have empirically examined the effects of downward social comparison on body satisfaction in people with high appearance anxiety.Exploring the relationship between downside social comparison,self-affirmation and body satisfaction can effectively reveal the causes of body dissatisfaction in appearance-anxious people,verify the cross-cultural applicability of self-affirmation theory,and help women accept their own bodies and truly learn body appreciation.There are three studies in this paper.In Study 1,455 female college students were used as subjects,and a scale was used to explore the relationship between four factors: appearance anxiety,downward social comparison,self-affirmation,and external body satisfaction.The results found that appearance anxiety and self-affirmation mediated the relationship between downside social comparison and externalized body satisfaction in a side-by-side manner.Downward social comparison positively predicted appearance anxiety and negatively predicted self-affirmation and epiphenomenal body satisfaction.In Study 2,120 female college students used as subjects in a mixed experimental design of 2(level of appearance anxiety: high,low)x 2(social comparison:downward social comparison group,no comparison group)x 3(lexicality: positive,neutral,negative words).The effects of downward social comparison and appearance anxiety on female college students’ implicit appearance self-ratings(implicit body satisfaction)were explored.Results revealed that:(1)the low appearance anxiety group had more positive implicit appearance self-ratings compared to the high appearance anxiety group;(2)the downward comparison group had more negative implicit appearance self-ratings compared to the no comparison group;and(3)the downward comparison group had more negative implicit appearance self-ratings for high appearance anxiety female college students,and the no comparison group had more positive implicit appearance self-ratings for low appearance anxiety individuals.Study 3 used a mixed experimental design of 2(social comparison: downward comparison group,non-comparison group)x 2(self-affirmation: self-affirmation group,no-affirmation group)x 3(lexicality: positive words,neutral words,negative words)with 120 female college students with high appearance anxiety as subjects.The effects of downslope social comparison and self-affirmation on implicit appearance self-assessment of high appearance anxious female college students were explored.The results revealed that:(1)female college students with high appearance anxiety had positive implicit appearance self-ratings;(2)the no-comparison group had positive implicit appearance self-ratings,compared to the downward comparison group;(3)the downward comparison group with self-affirmation showed positive implicit appearance self-ratings,and the no-affirmation group showed negative implicit appearance self-ratings.The above findings suggest that(1)appearance anxiety exacerbates body dissatisfaction among female college students.(2)Downward social comparison exacerbates female college students’ body dissatisfaction,especially for individuals with high appearance anxiety.(3)Self-affirmation can alleviate the body dissatisfaction caused by downward social comparison.