An individual who recently had preventive bypass surgery might think, "At least I didn't have a serious heart attack like my older brother did." This thinking exemplifies the strategy known as

A) self-serving bias.
B) pessimistic explanatory style.
C) downward social comparison.
D) basking in reflected glory.

This exemplifies the strategy of downward social comparison, which involves comparing oneself to someone who is worse off in order to feel better about one's own situation. The individual is comparing themselves to their older brother who had a serious heart attack, thereby feeling better about their own situation of only having had preventive bypass surgery.