Social Comparison Orientation, Hardiness and Life Satisfaction in Undergraduate Students

Abstract

The first aim of the present study was to examine changes on hardiness and life satisfaction in terms of social comparison orientation in Turkish undergraduate students. Secondly, the moderator effect of social comparison orientation on the relationship between hardiness and life satisfaction was investigated. The study was conducted on a total of 326 undergraduate students. The data of the study were collected through the IOWA-Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure, Personal View Survey III-R, and Satisfaction with Life Scale. In the study, in order to test differences between levels of hardiness and global life satisfaction among undergraduate students at low and high social comparison orientation, Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) was used. Hierarchical multiple regression procedures were performed to test moderating effect of social comparison orientation on the relationship between hardiness and life satisfaction. The findings of the study indicated that the students having a low social comparison orientation had more hardiness and life satisfaction than the students having a high social comparison orientation. In addition, social comparison orientation did not moderate the relationship between hardiness and life satisfaction. In conclusion, this study shows that social comparison orientation has a notable role on hardiness and life satisfaction in undergraduate students. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.