The Upside to Feeling Worse Than Average (WTA)

Ashley V. Whillans; Frances  Chen; Alex  Jordan

Article | Frontiers in Psychology | 2020

The Upside to Feeling Worse Than Average (WTA): A Conceptual Framework to Understand When, How, and for Whom Worse-Than-Average Beliefs Have Long-Term Benefits

by Ashley V. Whillans, Frances Chen and Alex Jordan

Abstract

Our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are shaped in critical ways by our beliefs about how we compare to other people. Past research has predominantly focused on the consequences of believing oneself to be better than average (BTA). Research on the consequences of worse-than-average (WTA) beliefs has been far more limited and has focused mostly on the downsides of WTA beliefs. In this paper, we argue for the systematic investigation of the possible long-term benefits of WTA beliefs in domains including motivation, task performance, and subjective well-being. We develop a conceptual framework for examining these potential benefits, explore the utility of this framework to generate novel insights in an example psychological domain (skill learning), and conclude with broader recommendations for research in other domains, including friendship formation and moral and political decision-making.

Keywords: worse than average; better than average; social cognition; self-perception; social comparisons; Identity; Perception; Personal Characteristics;

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Citation:

Whillans, Ashley V., Frances Chen, and Alex Jordan. "The Upside to Feeling Worse Than Average (WTA): A Conceptual Framework to Understand When, How, and for Whom Worse-Than-Average Beliefs Have Long-Term Benefits." Frontiers in Psychology 11, no. 642 (2020).

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The Upside to Feeling Worse Than Average (WTA): A Conceptual Framework to Understand When, How, and for Whom Worse-Than-Average Beliefs Have Long-Term Benefits

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