Social Comparison, Behavioral Contagion, and the Naturalistic Study of Social Interaction

I arrived at Minnesota in the early summer of 1959 just after having graduated from Stanford. ¹ Stanford had been a fortunate accident. I was born and reared in Texas and had intended to go to nearby Texas Christian University to study for the ministry. At the last minute, my high school counselor told me that there was a scholarship to Stanford, established by a local oil man, that I might be able to get. I had never heard of Stanford, but when I was told that it was in California, I applied. The scholarship paid the magnificent amount of $1,500 a year, which, combined with part-time work as a student policeman and summer employment, was enough.