BACKGROUND: Social comparison theory is relevant for learning in general. In a clinical context, we examined four hypotheses concerning: preferred other to compare with, preferred direction of comparison, response to social comparison and influence of personal social comparison orientation (SCO). AIM: To investigate the relevance of social comparison for clinical workplace learning. METHOD: Students (n = 437) from nine different hospitals completed two questionnaires measuring their SCO and the direction of and response to their comparisons. t-tests were used to analyse the data. RESULTS: Students substantially did compare. They preferred to compare with peer students more than with residents or staff, and with peers doing better more than with peers doing worse. Their response to social comparison was more often stimulating for learning than discouraging. Students high in SCO reported a stronger stimulating and discouraging response to their comparisons than students low in SCO. CONCLUSION: Social comparison does play a role in clinical workplace learning. The mainly stimulating response to social comparison indicates a positive learning influence. The preferred comparison with peers emphasizes the role of peers in the learning process. Further research should focus on student comparison behaviour and on situations that strengthen the positive effects of social comparison and reduce the negative or obstructing ones.
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