Social comparison theory was first proposed in 1954 by
psychologist Leon Festinger
and suggested that people have an innate drive to evaluate themselves, often in comparison to others.
Social comparison
can motivate people to improve
, but it can also promote judgmental, biased, and overly competitive or superior attitudes.
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.
Festinger (1954) proposed that social comparison was driven by a need to evaluate ourselves so that we had more information about ourselves; however, more recent theory suggests that social comparison is motivated by three drives (Gibbons & Buunk, 1999):
Self-evaluation
.
Self-improvement
.
Self-enhancement
.
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.
Social comparison theory was first proposed in 1954 by psychologist Leon Festinger and suggested that people have an innate drive to evaluate themselves, often in comparison to others. … For example,
a music student might compare herself to the star student of the class
.
There are certain moderators to the social comparison that impact their effects, such as self-esteem levels and moods. If one has high confidence when they engage in comparisons, they are
more likely to compare upward than downward
, and the effect will be positive. … Good moods are made even better by these comparisons.
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.
- Can increase positive affect.
- Can decrease negative moods.
- Can increase optimism about the future.
- Can enhance self-esteem.
- Can increase relationship satisfaction.
- 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.
Upward comparison occurs
when people compare themselves to someone they perceive to be superior
(Wheeler, 1966), whereas a downward comparison is defined by making a comparison with someone perceived to be inferior (Wills, 1981).
Psychologists have long known that people evaluate themselves in part by contrasting their own attributes and abilities with those of others–a process called social comparison. …
According to social comparison theory,
individuals determine their own social and personal worth based on how they measure up against others
. … Teens tend to focus on qualities such as perceived attractiveness and popularity when they engage in social comparison.
Mead's theory of the social self is
based on the perspective that the self emerges from social interactions
, such as observing and interacting with others, responding to others' opinions about oneself, and internalizing external opinions and internal feelings about oneself.
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.
What are the two aspects of self concept?
The self-categorization theory developed by John Turner states that the self-concept consists of at least two “levels”:
a personal identity and a social one
. In other words, one's self-evaluation relies on self-perceptions and how others perceive them.
