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Downward comparison in close relationships
A blessing in disguise? |
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Thesis, University of Groningen, June 1999
© Frans Oldersma, Groningen, The Netherlands, |
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Chapter 1 : Introduction
Bill and Arlene Miller were a happy couple. But now and then they felt they alone among their circle had been passed by somehow, leaving Bill to attend to his bookkeeping duties and Arlene occupied with secretarial chores. They talked about it sometimes, mostly in comparison with the lives of their neighbors, Harriet and Jim Stone. It seemed to the Millers that the Stones lived a fuller and brighter life. The Stones were always going out for dinner, or entertaining at home, or travelling about the country somewhere in connection with Jim's work.
From Neighbors, a story by Raymond Carver (1976). |
1-1. Introduction
In Neighbors, Raymond Carver introduced a once happy couple that encounters the potentially negative consequences of social comparison. Clearly, Bill and Arlene feel bad about themselves and feel discouraged and depressed when they compare their own situation with that of the Stones. In fact, they are faced with the inferiority of their own relationship by perceiving their neighbors' relationship to be more fulfilling and satisfying than their own. In this short story, Raymond Carver clearly shows how individuals may compare their own relationship to that of others, and how they may draw conclusions from such comparisons about the quality of their own relationship. Comparing one's own standing on a dimension to the standing of others on that same dimension is the subject of the current thesis. |
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© Frans Oldersma. Mail: Frans Oldersma
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