ABSTRACT
In the history of social psychology, the comparison with others has been identified as a central determinant of social behavior. It was seen as being driven by the motivation to learn from others (upward comparison) or boost one’s own self-esteem (downward comparison). From a cognitive perspective, comparisons were found to influence judgments in a more subtle way by activating standards and standard-consistent information that selectively increases the accessibility of information. Applied to the domain of behavioral economics, facilitating comparisons may affect people’s utility assessments and account for several “anomalies.” In summary, apparent gullibility may be due to judgmental dynamics and will be described in more detail and illustrated with experimental results.
