Envy Mediates the Link Between Social Comparison and Appearance Enhancement in Women

Abstract

Envy has recently been considered from an evolutionary perspective as an emotion which might motivate compensatory action following unfavorable social comparisons. In two studies, the role of envy in women's motivation to enhance their physical appearance was examined. Study 1 explored the mediating role of dispositional envy on the relationship between social comparison and women's resource spending on appearanceenhancing products, desired weight loss, and tanning intention in a cross-sectional sample of undergraduate women (N=188). Controlling for age and self-perceived mate-value, results revealed that social comparison significantly predicted all three dependent variables, with mediation effects of envy on desired weight loss, consumer spending, and tanning intentions. Study 2 replicated and extended these findings via an experimental social comparison priming procedure. Women (N=90) who made social comparisons toward attractive women in magazine advertisements (N=45) reported greater state envy relative to women viewing advertisements featuring a product only (N=45). Moreover, induced state envy subsequently predicted greater willingness to use facial cosmetics and to take a risky diet pill, and increased positive attitudes toward cosmetic surgery. These results support the role of envy, activated by unfavorable social comparisons, in motivating compensatory competitive appearance enhancement behaviors.

Jealousy Mediates the Link Between Women’s Upward Physical Appearance Comparison and Mate Retention Behavior

“…Women could be primed with low (versus high) mate value, or with lower/higher mate value relative to their partner. Previous research has also successfully primed upward appearance comparison (e.g., Arnocky et al, 2016). Such primes could be administered followed by a measure of state jealousy and subsequent hypothetical mate retention scenarios (e.g., Arnocky, Ribout, et al, 2014).…”

Envy: An Adversarial Review and Comparison of Two Competing Views

“…Researchers have also examined self-promoting strategies and reactions, such as intending to or actually performing better at work (Cohen-Charash, 2009; Lee & Duffy, 2019; Schaubroeck & Lam, 2004), enhancing one’s body or appearance (Arnocky, Perilloux, Cloud, Bird, & Thomas, 2015; Chan & Sengupta, 2013), and expending greater effort during job searches (Dineen, Duffy, Henle, & Lee, 2017). Notably, self-promoting behaviors can sometimes be socially undesirable and even unethical, such as résumé fraud (Dineen et al, 2017), theft (Wilkin & Connelly, 2015), and cheating (Gino & Pierce, 2010).…”

“…For example, scholars attribute irrational decision-making and economic and environmental problems to the envy-driven pursuit of status-related goods, such as luxury products (Belk, 2011; Frank, 1999; Veblen, 1899; Zheng, Baskin, & Peng, 2018). Unitary measures of envy also predict adverse consequences of comparisons with idealized media images, including cosmetic surgery or risky diet pills (e.g., Arnocky et al, 2015). A dual approach implies that benign envy causes such maladaptive outcomes.…”

Reconstructing the concept of face in cultural sociology: in Goffman’s footsteps, following the Chinese case

“…It has been reported that women in the USA and also Europe spend almost ten times the amount of money that men spend on appearance enhancing products (Meston and Buss 2009; see also Arnocky et al 2016;Twigg and Majima 2014). It is widely accepted as appropriate that women spend a significant portion of their income on their personal appearance, including purchase of outfits, cosmetics, personal care and possibly some form of medical service ranging from botox treatment to surgical restoration, reconstruction, or alteration of body features, even when they are aware of related health risks (Arnocky and Piché 2014).…”