The current work aimed to uncover the pattern of attention given to external comparison standards when engaged in social judgments. In a series of 5 experiments (N = 463), a Modified Spatial Cueing Task provided evidence for a general Comparison Induced Delay (CID), but found no signs of visuospatial attention (Pilot, Study 1 & 2). However, the CID did not occur if cues did not remain visually available throughout the trials (Study 3 & 4). Heterogeneity in results prompted the use of a single-paper meta-analysis including all secondary studies. A consistent CID effect was found across studies when standards remained visually available (K = 5), but not when they were masked (K = 2). No direct signs of visuospatial attentional bias were found. These results suggest that the attentional cost of engaging with external comparisons is mainly cognitive in nature, although a minor reoccurring visual component could not be excluded.

目前的工作旨在揭示在进行社会判断时对外部比较标准的关注模式。在一系列 5 次实验 ( N  = 463) 中，修改后的空间提示任务为一般比较诱导延迟 (CID) 提供了证据，但没有发现视觉空间注意的迹象（Pilot，研究 1 和 2）。然而，如果提示在整个试验过程中没有保持视觉可用，则不会发生 CID（研究 3 和 4）。结果的异质性促使使用单篇论文荟萃分析，包括所有二次研究。当标准在视觉上仍然可用时（K =  5），但在它们被掩盖时（K = 2）。没有发现视觉空间注意偏差的直接迹象。这些结果表明，进行外部比较的注意力成本本质上主要是认知成本，尽管不能排除一个小的重复出现的视觉成分。