Social judgment as a comparative process

Katja Corcoran

Chapter 5 in Research Handbook on Social Judgment, 2026, pp 75-90 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: During judgments of people, either the self or others, comparisons could quickly occur and result in assimilation (judgment of the target shifts in the direction toward the standard) or contrast (judgment of the target shifts away from the standard). Extensive research focuses on social comparisons, which are comparisons to others while judging the self. Social comparison influences self-evaluation, and emotional and motivational consequences are likely to occur. However, comparisons also play a role in judgments of others. In this chapter, I will summarize the current understanding of the “classical” social comparison process and its consequences and then focus on how these processes affect social judgment. Thereby, I will first focus on social judgments in which the self serves as the standard and then move on to judgments in which other persons are.

Keywords: Social Comparison; Upward Comparison; Downward Comparison; Assimilation; Contrast; Selective Accessibility Model; Egocentric Tactician Model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035332533
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