Social comparison and coping with radiation therapy: The significance of different dimensions of comparison

Being confronted with a serious illness such as cancer and being treated for it, is a very threatening experience that may have consequences for almost every part of the patient’s life. The present thesis focused on how social comparison information can be used by cancer patients to adapt to their illness and the treatment with radiation therapy. It addressed several questions concerning the social comparison processes of cancer patients; what kind of social comparison information and contact they prefer, how they react to different types of social comparison information and how several factors, particularly the personality of the patients, influences these reactions. The aim of the present thesis was to provide more insight in the role of social comparison in the coping processes of cancer patients