RESEARCH_FILE
Abraham Tesser
University of Georgia
Known for:The Self-Evaluation Maintenance (SEM) model — showing how closeness to a high performer shifts between threatening and flattering self-evaluation depending on domain relevance
SEE THE PRACTICE
Turn a thought this research explains into one clear move.
THE THOUGHT
“Everyone else is further ahead”
YOUR RECORDED RESPONSE
“I’m comparing my inside to their outside. That’s not a fair dataset.”
ONE PRIVATE MOVE
Open a blank note and list three private facts from your last seven days that a highlight reel would miss. Keep the note for yourself and close it after reading once.
Key findings
- 1988
Close others who outperform you in a self-relevant domain threaten self-evaluation (contrast effect), while the same outperformance in an irrelevant domain allows you to bask in their glory (assimilation effect) — meaning the domain matters as much as the direction of comparison. Toward a Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model of Social Behavior ↗