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Depression and social comparison motives
Gifford Weary,
Kerry L. Marsh, Linda McCormick,
Corresponding Author
Gifford Weary
Ohio State University
Department of Psychology, Ohio State University, 1885 Neil Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA or Kerry Marsh, Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 46556Search for more papers by this authorGifford Weary,
Kerry L. Marsh, Linda McCormick,
Corresponding Author
Gifford Weary
Ohio State University
Department of Psychology, Ohio State University, 1885 Neil Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA or Kerry Marsh, Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 46556Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
This study examined the role of informational social comparison motives in depressed and nondepressed individuals' opinion comparison activities. In particular. We examined the impact of agreement and disagreement from sources similar or dissimilar to depressed and nondepressed subjects on an attribute related to the focal judgment. AS predicted, depressed compared to nondepressed subjects indicated a greater preference for the similar-disagreer, whereas nondepressed preferred as a partner the dissimilar-agreer to a greater extent than did depressed subjects. Furthermore, measures of validation and construction motives were found to be associated with diflerent partner preferences. Results are discussed in terms of the multiple motivations underlying and distinguishing depressed and nondepressed social comparison activities.
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