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Iowa-Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure (INCOM)3

Iowa-Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure (INCOM) Test

See how you compare yourself to your past, your ideals, and others in just 3 minutes. Get quick insight to support self-esteem, motivation, and personal growth.

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Questions: 133 minutes

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

27,913 views

2,062 completions

1,389 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

2/8

With Strangers (WS)

Measures how often you compare yourself with unfamiliar people to gauge your standing against broader social norms.

Low

Moderate

High

0 – 3: Low | 4 – 6: Moderate | 7 – 8: High

A score of 2 indicates a low tendency to compare yourself with strangers, suggesting you rely relatively less on broad social reference points when evaluating yourself.

example score

9/16

With Familiar People (WFP)

Measures how much you compare yourself with familiar people when evaluating yourself and your progress.

Low comparison

High comparison

0 – 11: Low comparison | 12 – 16: High comparison

A score of 9 suggests you generally rely less on comparisons with familiar people, using them occasionally rather than as a primary reference point.

example score

13/28

Self-Comparison (SC)

Measures how strongly a person tends to evaluate themselves by comparing their current achievements and setbacks to their own past performance.

Low self-comparison

Moderate self-comparison

High self-comparison

0 – 8: Low self-comparison | 9 – 21: Moderate self-comparison | 22 – 28: High self-comparison

A score of 13 indicates a moderate tendency to use past personal performance as a reference point when judging current successes and failures.

example score

31/52

Social Comparison Orientation (SCO)

Measures how strongly you tend to evaluate yourself by comparing your qualities, behavior, or achievements to other people.

Low

Moderate

High

0 – 14: Low | 15 – 39: Moderate | 40 – 52: High

A score of 31 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting you sometimes use others as a reference point for self-evaluation but are not consistently driven by social comparison.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Self-esteem and anxiety seekers

41%OF USERS

People who often feel “not good enough” and want to understand how comparing themselves to others, their past, or an ideal self affects their mood and confidence.

Growth-minded goal setters

34%OF USERS

People focused on self-improvement who use the results to see whether they’re driven more by progress over time, high personal standards, or social benchmarks.

Coaching and counseling clients

25%OF USERS

People working with a coach or therapist who want a clear snapshot of their comparison habits to guide discussions about motivation, boundaries, and self-perception.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

with strangers (ws)

Average

2.8

Normal range

1.5 — 4

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

with familiar people (wfp)

Average

6.9

Normal range

4.3 — 9.6

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

with oneself (wo)

Average

12.5

Normal range

8.2 — 16.9

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Focus on Social Comparison (FoSC)

Average

30.4

Normal range

23.1 — 37.7

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

- 0: I never compare
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4: I compare all the time
- 0 – never compare
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4 – compare all the time
- 0 — I never compare
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4 — I compare all the time

These are 3 of the 13 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

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WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

About This Assessment

Social Comparison Orientation Questionnaire, SCOQ Test

Iowa-Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure (INCOM) Test - Symptoms and Signs

social comparisons

This measure assesses an individual’s tendency to engage in social comparison and the degree to which comparison information is used in self-evaluation. The Iowa-Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure (INCOM) was developed by Jerry Suls and Ladd Wheeler and is commonly used in research and clinical contexts to characterize comparison orientation.

It consists of 13 items and typically requires about 3 minutes to complete. Items ask respondents to indicate how often they attend to and evaluate themselves in relation to other people and relevant reference points.

Scores from the Iowa-Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure (INCOM) can help clinicians and researchers describe patterns of comparison-related attention and self-appraisal that may be relevant to self-esteem, motivation, and mood, while avoiding causal interpretation in the absence of additional assessment data.

Author: Jerry Suls, Ladd Wheeler

Literature: Gibbons, F. X., & Buunk, B. P. Individual differences in social comparison: Development of a scale of social comparison orientation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1999.