Comparing to others may improve motivation for self-care

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Comparing yourself to others who are either worse off or are not coping well may increase your motivation to take better care of yourself when facing an illness or disease, according to researchers at Penn State and Drexel University. "Sustaining motivation for self-care behaviors involving illnesses or diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, is challenging, and the role of social influence on motivation and behavior is underappreciated," said Joshua Smyth , professor of biobehavioral health and of medicine, Penn State. "In this study, we sought to clarify the effect of evaluating oneself relative to another person on motivation for self-care." The researchers asked 180 diabetes patients to complete baseline questionnaires and to choose to read one of four different stories about another patient - a patient who is coping well with mild symptoms, a patient who is coping well with severe symptoms, a patient who is coping poorly with mild symptoms, and a patient who is coping poorly with severe symptoms. The team then asked the participants to rate how much they focused on similarities and differences between themselves and the patient they chose to read about, as they were reading. Finally, they asked the participants to rate their motivation for diabetes self-care behaviors, such as avoiding sugary foods and getting regular exercise. The researchers found that most patients preferred to read about a patient who was coping well with mild symptoms.