Researchers asked volunteers to imagine they were running a five-kilometer race against 50 people and then against 500 people, races in each of which the top 10 percent would receive a $1, 000 prize  Asked about the effort they would apply in the respective cases, the volunteers indicated, on average, that they would run slower in the race against the greater number of people
A likely explanation of this result is that those of the volunteers who were most comparatively inclined-those who most tended to compare themselves with others in the social environment-determined (perhaps unconsciously) that extreme effort would not be worthwhile in the 500-competitor race
The volunteers who were the least comparatively inclined had no greater desire to win the $1, 000 than those who were the most comparatively inclined.