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Amy has just been diagnosed with breast cancer. She reminds herself that breast cancer is highly treatable and that the doctors caught hers early. Thus, she feels much luckier than people whose breast cancer is caught during later stages of the disease. In this situation, Amy is using____________.

User ANP
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Answer:

Downward comparison

Step-by-step explanation:

According to psychology, since people need to evaluate themselves in an accurate way, they tend to compare themselves with other people who are in similar situations.

However, people who feel low in subjective well-being (like depressed or ill or with low self-esteem) are more likely to compare downward in order to feel better about themselves.

When the person compare downward, they compare with others who are inferior or less fortunate than him/her. By doing this, the person starts to think the conditions he/she is in are not that bad and starts feeling better about himself/herself.

In the example, Amy has been diagnosed with breast cancer, she reminds herself that this type of cancer is highly treatable if caught early, she feels much luckier than people whose breast cancer is caught during later stages. Thus, Amy is comparing herself to other patients who are less fortunate in order to feel better about herself and her recent cancer diagnosis. Therefore, Amy is using Downward comparison.

User Joost
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