The above statements were provided by a female participant in Study 3 who verbalized her troubles with questions that asked her to evaluate her own relationship with those of others. However, her explication is rather paradoxical because it runs counter to her initially mentioned troubles with social comparison. Not only this participant, but most people in general give evidence for the importance of social comparison when they explain their difficulties in comparing their own situation to that of others. Such explanations usually incorporate explicit references to social comparison such as the fact that their own situation is unique and different from that of others, such as conveyed by the respondent above, or references to the dilemma of possible comparisons with better-off others on the one hand, and comparisons with worse-off others on the other hand.

All in all, such considerations must inevitably become apparent by means of social comparison activities. Furthermore, despite her reflections, the respondent's statements conclude with the assessment that her own relationship flourishes and develops in a way that is more positive and less negative than the relationship of others. This conclusion may be a spontaneous expression of the general inclination to evaluate oneself as more positively and less negatively than others (cf. Taylor & Brown, 1988, 1994). Taylor and Brown reviewed a substantial body of literature and concluded that there exists a pervasive tendency for people to perceive themselves as superior to others, and suggested that this desire to self-enhancement has primarily the function of attaining and maintaining a positive mental health.