The self-concept and self-esteem are determined in large part through social comparison. … When we are able to
compare ourselves favorably with others
through downward social comparison, we feel good about ourselves. Upward social comparison with others who are better or better off than we are leads to negative emotions.
In summary, social comparison theory suggests that self-esteem
influences the tendency to compare oneself with others
, which in turn would influence the use of Facebook because it may be a tool for social comparison.
Two studies examined the rela- tionship between frequent social comparisons and destructive emotions and behaviors. In Study 1, people who said they made frequent social comparisons were more likely to expe-
rience envy, guilt, regret, and defensiveness, and to lie, blame others, and to have unmet cravings
.
Consequences of Social Comparison
The social comparison process has been associated with numerous consequences. For one, social comparison can impact self-esteem (Tesser, 1988), especially
when doing well relative to others
. For example, having the best final score in a class can increase your self-esteem quite a bit.
Social comparison is the
idea that people learn about their own attitudes, beliefs and abilities by comparing themselves to the other people around them
(Aronson, Wilson, & Akert, 2010). Self-Esteem is the evaluation of oneself (Erkut, n.d.).
2 There are two kinds of social comparison—
upward social comparison and downward social comparison
.
Social Media has many positive effects on education including
better communication, timely information, socializing online, learning, enhancing skills
, making a career among others. But the same has some negative effects which include identity theft, cyber bullying, and social isolation.
- Practice gratitude. …
- Unlock the power of contentment. …
- Don’t compare your life to everyone else’s highlight reel. …
- Focus on your strengths. …
- Celebrate other people. …
- Learn to compete with yourself instead of others.
People
who have higher self-esteem and fewer stressors in their lives
tend to fare better with social comparisons. For example, generally speaking, when we make downward social comparisons and compare ourselves to those who are less well-off, it generally makes us feel better.
Studies have shown that people who make frequent social comparisons are
more likely to experience feelings of envy
, regret, guilt and defensiveness and also lie, blame others or have unmet cravings.
Why you should not compare siblings?
If you often compare your kids to one another, you may be
hampering their academic performance
. Parents should be careful about comparing their kids to their siblings, suggests a new study which found that parents’ beliefs about their children, and not just actual parenting, may influence who their kids become.
What are the negative effects of comparing yourself to others?
Research has found that comparing breeds feelings of envy, low-self confidence, and depression, as well as compromises our ability to trust others. While downward comparison, comparing ourselves to those less fortunate,
can provide some benefit to one’s sense of self
, even this form of comparison comes at a price.
Why you shouldn’t compare your life to others?
But when we constantly compare ourselves to others, we waste precious energy focusing on other peoples’ lives rather than our own. Comparisons
often result in resentment
. Resentment towards others and towards ourselves. Comparisons deprive us of joy.
A central tenet of social comparison theory is that
individuals compare themselves with others when they are uncertain about their opinions and abilities
, especially in the absence of objective standards (Festinger, 1954). In our everyday life, social comparison is universal and valuable.
What happens when we compare ourselves to others?
When we compare ourselves to others,
we get information about what we want and where we want to be, and we get valuable feedback on how we measure up
. However, they can also cause us a lot of psychological pain. It’s when we start comparing ourselves to others too much that we run into problems.
In
upward comparisons
, we compare ourselves with those we believe are better than us in some way; in downward comparisons, we do the opposite.
