Skip to main content
Search
Search
    Quick Search anywhere
    Quick search in Citations
Advanced Search
Skip main navigationClose Drawer MenuOpen Drawer Menu
Previous article
Next article
Original Article

Dimensionality of the Iowa-Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure and Its Relationship to Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory

Published Online:November 10, 2017https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000242

Abstract

Abstract. The aims of this study were, first, to reassess the factor structure of the Iowa-Netherlands Social Comparison Orientation Measure (INCOM) and, second, to explore the associations of its factors with the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST) of personality. Data from 337 respondents were collected via online questionnaire. Structural equation models were used to assess the factor structure of the INCOM and test for relationships with RST traits. The results confirmed previous findings that the INCOM contains two factors: Ability, which relates to the comparison of performance, and Opinion, which relates to the comparison of thoughts and emotions. The two-factor model was found to be superior to the commonly used one-factor solution. The models further revealed significant relationships with RST factors: positive associations between the Ability factor and the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) and Behavioral Approach System (BAS) Reward Reactivity; positive associations between the Opinion factor and BAS Reward Reactivity and Goal-Drive Persistence, and a negative association with BAS Impulsivity. These findings indicate that using the INCOM as a single scale is likely to miss significant unique relationships. Our findings also provide new insight into how individual differences in personality may influence social comparison behavior.

References

  • Buunk, A. P. & Gibbons, F. X. (2007). Social comparison: The end of a theory and the emergence of a field. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 102, 3–21. doi: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2006.09.007 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Carver, C. S. & White, T. L. (1994). Behavioral inhibition, behavioral activation, and affective responses to impending reward and punishment: The BIS/BAS Scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 319–333. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.67.2.319 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Cooper, A. J., Perkins, A. M. & Corr, P. J. (2007). A confirmatory factor analytic study of anxiety, fear, and behavioral inhibition system measures. Journal of Individual Differences, 28, 179–187. doi: 10.1027/1614-0001.28.4.179 First citation in articleLink, Google Scholar

  • Corr, P. (2008). Reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST): Introduction. In P. CorrEd., The reinforcement sensitivity theory of personality (pp. 1–43). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Corr, P. J. (2016). Reinforcement sensitivity theory of personality questionnaires: Structural survey with recommendations. Personality and Individual Differences, 89, 60–64. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2015.09.045 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Corr, P. J. & Cooper, A. J. (2016). The reinforcement sensitivity theory of personality questionnaire (RST-PQ): Development and validation. Psychological Assessment, 28, 1427–1440. doi: 10.1037/pas0000273 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Corr, P. J., DeYoung, C. G. & McNaughton, N. (2013). Motivation and personality: A neuropsychological perspective. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7, 158–175. doi: 10.1111/spc3.12016 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Costa, P. T. & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Normal personality assessment in clinical practice: The NEO Personality Inventory. Psychological Assessment, 4, 5–13. doi: 10.1037/1040-3590.4.1.5 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Diener, E. & Fujita, F. (1997). Social comparisons and subjective well-being. In B. BuunkF. GibbonsEds., Health, coping, and well-being: Perspectives from social comparison theory (pp. 329–358). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Feinstein, B. A., Hershenberg, R., Bhatia, V., Latack, J. A., Meuwly, N. & Davila, J. (2013). Negative social comparison on Facebook and depressive symptoms: Rumination as a mechanism. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 2, 161–170. doi: 10.1037/a0033111 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Festinger, L. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7, 117–140. doi: 10.1177/001872675400700202 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Gibbons, F. X. & Buunk, B. P. (1999). Individual differences in social comparison: Development of a scale of social comparison orientation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 129–142. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.76.1.129 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Gilbert, P., Price, J. & Allan, S. (1995). Social comparison, social attractiveness and evolution: How might they be related? New Ideas in Psychology, 13, 149–165. doi: 10.1016/0732-118X(95)00002-X First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Kambouropoulos, N., Egan, S., O’Connor, E. J. & Staiger, P. K. (2014). Escaping threat: Understanding the importance of threat sensitivity in social anxiety. Journal of Individual Differences, 35, 47–53. doi: 10.1027/1614-0001/a000126 First citation in articleLink, Google Scholar

  • Krupić, D., Corr, P. J., Ručević, S., Križanić, V. & Gračanin, A. (2016). Five reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) of personality questionnaires: Comparison, validity and generalization. Personality and Individual Differences, 97, 19–24. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2016.03.012 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Krupić, D., Gračanin, A. & Corr, P. J. (2016). The evolution of the behavioural approach system (BAS): Cooperative and competitive resource acquisition strategies. Personality and Individual Differences, 94, 223–227. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2016.01.044 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • McNaughton, N. & Corr, P. J. (2004). A two-dimensional neuropsychology of defense: Fear/anxiety and defensive distance. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 28, 285–305. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2004.03.005 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Mumm, J. & Mutlu, B. (2011). Designing motivational agents: The role of praise, social comparison, and embodiment in computer feedback. Computers in Human Behavior, 27, 1643–1650. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2011.02.002 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Olson, B. D. & Evans, D. L. (1999). The role of the Big Five Personality dimensions in the direction and affective consequences of everyday social comparisons. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, 1498–1508. doi: 10.1177/01461672992510006 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • R Core Team. (2015). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Retrieved from https://www.r-project.org/ First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Rosseel, Y. (2012). lavaan: An R package for structural equation modeling. Journal of Statistical Software, 4, 1–36. doi: 10.18637/jss.v048.i02 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Schneider, S. M. & Schupp, J. (2014). Individual differences in social comparison and its consequences for life satisfaction: Introducing a short scale of the Iowa-Netherlands comparison orientation. Social Indicators Research, 115, 767–789. doi: 10.1007/s11205–012-0227–1 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Segarra, P., Poy, R., López, R. & Moltó, J. (2014). Characterizing Carver and White’s BIS/BAS subscales using the five factor model of personality. Personality and Individual Differences, 61–62, 18–23. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2013.12.027 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Smederevac, S., Mitrović, D., Čolović, P. & Nikolašević, Ž. (2014). Validation of the measure of revised reinforcement sensitivity theory constructs. Journal of Individual Differences, 35, 12–21. doi: 10.1027/1614-0001/a000121 First citation in articleLink, Google Scholar

  • Steers, M. N., Wickham, R. E. & Acitelli, L. K. (2014). Seeing everyone else’s highlight reels: How Facebook usage is linked to depressive symptoms. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 33, 701–731. doi: 10.1521/jscp.2014.33.8.701 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Taylor, S. E. & Lobel, M. (1989). Social comparison activity under threat: Downward evaluation and upward contacts. Psychological Review, 96, 569–575. doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.96.4.569 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Tessar, A., Millar, M. & Moore, J. (2000). Some affective consequences of social comparison and reflection processes: The pain and pleasure of being close. In E. HigginsA. KruglanskiEds., Motivational science: Social and personality perspectives (pp. 60–75). New York, NY: Psychology Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Thwaites, R. & Dagnan, D. (2004). Moderating variables in the relationship between social comparison and depression: An evolutionary perspective. Psychology and Psychotherapy, 77, 309–323. doi: 10.1348/1476083041839376 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • van der Zee, K., Buunk, B. & Sanderman, R. (1996). The relationship between social comparison processes and personality. Personality and Individual Differences, 20, 551–565. doi: 10.1016/0191-8869(96)00007-4 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • van der Zee, K. I., Buunk, B. P., Sanderman, R., Botke, G. & Van Den Bergh, F. (1999). The Big Five and identification-contrast processes in social comparison in adjustment to cancer treatment. European Journal of Personality, 13, 307–326. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-0984(199907/08)13:4<307::AID-PER342>3.0.CO;2-R First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • White, J. B., Langer, E. J., Yariv, L. & Welch, J. C. (2006). Frequent social comparisons and destructive emotions and behaviors: The dark side of social comparisons. Journal of Adult Development, 13, 36–44. doi: 10.1007/s10804-006-9005-0 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar