{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,26]],"date-time":"2025-11-26T05:21:14Z","timestamp":1764134474020,"version":"3.46.0"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,26]],"date-time":"2025-11-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1764115200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In today\u2019s digitally connected and economically unequal world, upward wealth comparisons are pervasive. This study examined how wealth comparisons across different social distances (family, friends, and internet) distinctly affect well-being.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We employed a scenario-based questionnaire design to assess the effects of wealth comparisons. Data were analyzed using regression models, with stress tested as a mediator through mediation analysis and heterogeneous effects explored across subgroups based on help-seeking behaviors.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Comparisons with all three groups are associated with negative influence on well-being, with comparisons to friends exhibiting the strongest effect. Stress mediates these impacts, while help-seeking behaviors show divergent pathways. Additionally, life satisfaction and income buffer sensitivity to disparities.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The findings underscore that the risk of upward wealth comparisons is contingent on social distance. This research integrates offline and online dynamics into a cohesive theoretical framework, advancing social comparison theory and providing actionable insights for interventions designed to protect well-being in the face of pervasive social comparison.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2025.1661009","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,26]],"date-time":"2025-11-26T05:16:06Z","timestamp":1764134166000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Wealth comparison across social distances: implications for well-being"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Yingying","family":"Wu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Qinglan","family":"Tang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Zhongli","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ziyu","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kayan","family":"Liang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"139","DOI":"10.2224\/sbp.2006.34.2.139","article-title":"Measuring happiness with a single-item scale","volume":"34","author":"Abdel-Khalek","year":"2006","journal-title":"Soc. 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