To the best of our knowledge, although theorists have speculated for decades about the impact of social comparisons upon relationship satisfaction (e.g., Thibaut & Kelley, 1959), there exists scarcely any prior research demonstrating that the perceived quality of an intimate relationship can be influenced experimentally by social comparison, thus impeding the development of causal models involving relationship quality. Therefore, the current work may contribute to a better understanding of the maintenance and enhancement of relationship quality by demonstrating the beneficial effects of cognitive downward comparison on the perceived quality of the relationship, especially for those who experience discontent with the relationship with their partners and consequently suffer a decline in the quality of their relationship. The fact that downward comparison has more effect among individuals who have a dispositional tendency to engage in social comparison suggests that for individuals with a low social comparison orientation other processes are more important for relationship satisfaction.