The current paper examines the dispositional and situational antecedents, as well as the attitudinal and behavioral consequences, of the frequency of upward and downward social comparisons. We predicted social comparison frequency would be influenced by uncertainty-related antecedents, and that social comparisons in organizations would be…

The goal of this article is to frame some new directions to social comparison research in organizational settings. Four themes are developed. First, we examine the role of organizational variables in shaping the basic sub processes in social comparison, such as the selection of referents. The second theme focuses on the meaning of level of…

Compared the mental health of the elderly living in three different environments: conventional community housing, subsidized housing, and institutions providing medical care. Mental health variables include autonomy and independence. Results indicated institutions do not appear to have better effects for their inhabitants given similar levels of…

Ethnographic methods were used to assess three learning-disabled and three normal tenth and eleventh grade boys at a school with an unusually low dropout rate. Institutional, classroom, and interpersonal factors behind the schools' student retention ability are described. (TJH)