The Cost of Looking Up: Social Comparison as a Partial Mediator Between Social Anxiety and Vindictive Behavior in a Non-anonymous Ultimatum Game

Self-appraisals in relation to internalized standards are fundamental constructs in clinical and evolutionary models of Social Anxiety (SA). Empirical evidence has consistently shown that socially anxious individuals tend to engage in upward social comparisons and aim to adjust their social standing accordingly. However, the consequences of perceiving oneself as inferior to others within social contexts remain under-explored. To this end, a sample of <i>N</i> = 166 college students participated as respondents in an iterated, non-anonymous online Ultimatum Game (UG) against two familiar classmates: a fair allocator and a highly unfair allocator. Participants were informed that their identities would be disclosed to their assigned co-players. In reality, however, all participants played against a computer-simulated opponent. Our findings both replicate and extend previous research by showing that individuals with elevated social anxiety tend to exhibit vindictive behavior in response to unfair monetary UG splits (i.e., costly punishment) compared to their less anxious peers, even without the safeguarding of anonymity. Overall, our data lend empirical support to Social Rank theories of social anxiety and underscore the role of (upward) social comparison as a partial mediator explaining behavioral outcomes (i.e., vindictive behavior) in SA. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.