Comparative Thinking among University Students: An Ecological Momentary Assessment of Upward Comparisons, Stress and Learning Behavior during Exam Preparation

Exam periods are stressful for university students. To assess their exam readiness, students can use social, temporal, criteria-based, and counterfactual comparisons. Here, we used Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) to capture daily frequency and affective impact of upward comparisons and their influence on stress, negative mood, and learning among 170 psychology students. During an eleven-day EMA-phase close to impending exams, participants completed brief surveys three times a day, complemented by baseline and follow-up assessments. Multilevel models revealed that both between-person and within-person upward comparison frequency correlated positively with stress and negative mood over time. A more negative comparison affective impact mediated the within-person associations of comparison frequency with stress and negative mood. A more negative comparison affective impact also predicted more avoidant learning behavior, both between-person and within-person. Comparison also influenced depression, test anxiety, and burnout at follow-up. The findings may inform interventions to promote well-being during periods of performance pressure.