Publications
Publications
- 2018
- HBS Working Paper Series
The Upside to Feeling Worse than Average: 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
Citation
Whillans, Ashley V., Frances Chen, and Alex Jordan. "The Upside to Feeling Worse than Average: A Conceptual Framework to Understand When, How, and for Whom Worse-than-Average Beliefs Have Long-Term Benefits." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 18-076, February 2018.