Social contexts and motivation: the role of upward and downward comparisons

The social context has long been recognized as an influence on individual behavior, and research is increasingly recognizing the ways in which social contexts at work play a role in employee performance. In this dissertation, I apply social comparison theory to better understand an understudied aspect of social context: the performance of other people at work. Specifically, I argue that interactions with higher-performing colleagues and lower-performing colleagues provide the referents against which employees compare themselves to evaluate their own performance. These social comparisons are the basis upon which individuals construct an internal norm for performance, influencing their own motivation and performance. I posit that upward comparisons (to better performers) raise normative expectations of performance while downward comparisons (to worse performers) lower normative expectations for performance. I further test whether the relationships between upward and downward comparisons and motivation are moderated by goal orientation, a disposition that describes individuals’ propensity to set different kinds of goals in achievement situations. I examine my hypotheses in two studies: students in and introductory management course and corporate staff in a mid-size food processing company.