Applying dimensional comparison theory to the fundamental dimensions of social judgment - Agency and communion

The present research tests predictions of Dimensional Comparison Theory (DCT) with respect to the fundamental dimensions of social judgment, agency (A) and communion (C). A and C represent fundamental challenges every person is confronted with: getting ahead and getting along. It is examined if dimensional comparisons take place in self-evaluations of A and C. Dimensional comparisons are carried out between one's own characteristics in two domains and influence on domain-specific self-concepts, in the way that positive feedback in one domain negatively affects self-concept in the other domain. Study 1 (N = 493 students) regressed in a path-analytic design students' self-ascriptions of A and C on peer- and teacher-evaluations of students' A and C. Study 2a (N = 92 university students) and 2b (N = 91 university students) experimentally studied the effect of feedback on A and C on self-evaluation in the non-corresponding domain. Findings from both studies speak for the existence of contrastive dimensional comparisons between the two domains.