ABSTRACT
About one quarter of the people in the United States will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives (Haney, 1984). Although advances in medical treatment have greatly improved survival rates for many types of cancer, many patients contend with the threat of a possible recurrence. Treatments for cancer, which may include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and hormonal treatments, are often time-consuming, disfiguring, painful, or quite toxic. Besides fears for one’s life and physical well-being, cancer may introduce many other stressors, such as disruptions in one’s job performance and strains in one’s families and friendships (Wortman & Dunkel-Schetter, 1979). How do people who have been diagnosed with cancer cope with all these stressors? Certainly, the answer to this question depends on the type of cancer a person has and its stage at diagnosis, which determines treatment and prognosis. However, we believe that virtually all people coping with cancer or the threat of its recurrence will be interested to some degree in social comparison. They may compare themselves with others to evaluate their disease, to learn about treatment, to evaluate how well they are coping, to feel better about their own situation, to learn from others who are coping well, and for many other reasons.
