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The Interpretation of Social Comparison and Its Relation to Life Satisfaction Among Elderly People: Does Frailty Make a Difference?

¹ Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
² Departments of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, University Hospital Groningen, The Netherlands.

Address correspondence to Nynke Frieswijk, Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712 TS Groningen, The Netherlands. E-mail: N.Frieswijk{at}ppsw.rug.nl

We examined the interpretation of upward and downward social comparison and its effect on life satisfaction in a questionnaire study among 444 community-dwelling elderly persons with different levels of frailty. As we expected, elderly persons with higher levels of frailty were less inclined to contrast and more inclined to identify themselves with a downward comparison target. Furthermore, they were more inclined to contrast themselves with an upward comparison target, but contrary to our expectations, they were also more inclined to identify with this target. Upward identification and downward contrast related positively, whereas upward contrast and downward identification related negatively to life satisfaction. These effects existed independently of the negative effect of frailty on life satisfaction.