Social Comparisons in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Accuracy and Adaptational Significance

Social comparison statements were classified from the illness descriptions of 90 individuals with rheumatoid arthritis. Participants also completed questionnaires comparing their disease activity, functional status, and adjustment to that of the average person with this illness. Criterion measures of these social comparison attributes were also derived from the reports of patients and their health care providers. Fifteen percent of the sample made spontaneous downward social comparisons in describing their illness, and only one participant made an upward comparison. The participants who made downward social comparison statements did not differ from others on the criterion measures or in the conclusions they drew about their comparative health status. The conclusions drawn by patients about their comparative disease activity and comparative functional status were in significant agreement with their actual relative standing on the criterion measures of these attributes. Controlling for demographic characteristics, patients' actual disease activity, and the accuracy of their conclusions, those who compared their disease activity more favorably to that of the average patient were rated by their care providers as exhibiting more positive psychosocial adjustment.