Iowa-Netherlands Social Comparison Orientation Scale

The Iowa-Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure (INCOM) is an 11-item self-report scale that assesses individual differences in the tendency to engage in social comparison—comparing oneself to others on abilities, attributes, and outcomes. Developed by Gibbons and Buunk in 1999, it captures both upward comparison (to those perceived as superior) and downward comparison (to those perceived as inferior), providing a trait-like measure of this fundamental social motivation.