Just how comparative are comparative judgments?

• We elicit comparative judgments across a variety of topics and response formats.
• We examine comparisons at the information retrieval and judgment formation stages.
• Focused comparisons occur at the judgment formation stage.
• Focused comparisons are absent at the information retrieval stage.
• Focused comparison effects may be more localized than previously theorized.

Three studies investigate the psychology of comparative judgment, examining the circumstances under which judgments tend to concentrate disproportionately on one of the two elements that underlie the comparison (i.e., focused comparisons). We examine these tendencies at the judgment formation and information retrieval stages by examining judgment content as well as the speed and efficiency with which people make comparisons. The results replicate prior findings of differential weighting, indicating that focusing occurs in the formation stage of comparative judgments. However, focusing is absent in the reaction time data, suggesting that both elements of the comparison are equally accessible when individuals retrieve comparison-relevant information. These findings clarify the process by which people arrive at comparative judgments and demonstrate precisely when focused comparisons occur.