Social comparison as a mediator of response shift.

Previous research in the domain of social comparison theory has suggested that the same factors that have been hypothesized as antecedents to response shift, primarily significant life events, also prompt an increase in interest in social comparison. Based on this research, it is suggested that social comparison, or more specifically, change in social comparison, is a mediator of the relation between significant life events and the change in self-perspective--or response shift--that they often produce. Evidence supporting this claim is reviewed and new data are presented. Finally, the implications of this mediational relation, including those relevant to the design of interventions, are discussed.