The role of comparison processes in maintenance goals: Evidence from the health and relationship domains

TL;DR

This study explores how different types of mental comparisons affect efforts to maintain personal health and relationships, offering insights into sustaining well-being.

Contribution

The study reveals that upward self-comparisons boost maintenance motivation, while upward social comparisons reduce it, advancing goal theory.

Findings

Maintenance motivation increases after upward self-comparisons and decreases after upward social comparisons.

Mental comparisons influence maintenance goals through changes in appreciation for the current state.

Findings are consistent across health, relationship domains, and multiple study designs.

Abstract

This research examined how mental comparisons impact maintenance striving—the ongoing care for one's valued current state—with implications for understanding daily struggles to maintain personal health and well‐being. Following the ternary goal model, we hypothesized that (H1) maintenance goals, differently from progress goals, are not motivated by upward social comparisons, which reduce appreciation for current states, and that (H2) maintenance goals are motivated by upward self‐comparisons, which increase appreciation for current states. We tested our hypotheses in five preregistered studies (N = 2435) employing experimental designs in health (Studies 1 and 2) and relationship (Studies 3 and 4) domains, experience sampling methodology (Study 4), and behavioral measures (Study 5). Hypotheses were confirmed across all studies: Maintenance motivation was consistently higher following upward self‐comparisons and lower following upward social comparisons. Mental comparisons influenced maintenance goals through changes in appreciation for one's current state, with Study 1 providing direct evidence that these effects differ for progress goals. By triangulating findings from experience sampling, controlled experiments, and behavioral measures, we gain a robust understanding of this psychological phenomenon. These findings advance goal theory and provide practical insights for developing interventions that support long‐term health behavior maintenance, relationship satisfaction, and overall well‐being in applied settings.

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