Social comparison theory

Social comparison theory is another social psychological theory that establishes that individuals have a drive to evaluate their opinions, engage in social comparison and are usually with people that look similar to them (T.Morrison, M.Morison, Kalin, 2004). Downward comparison (comparing oneself to someone dissimilar to oneself) is believe to enhance well-being and upward comparison (comparing oneself to someone who is better) is believed to decrease well-being. However, research has shown that social comparison of physical appearance tends to be upward. A study conducted, revealed that comparing one’s appearance to models in magazine advertisement correlate negatively with self-evaluation of attractiveness (T.Morrison, M.Morison, Kalin, 2004).…

The Social Cognitive Perspective vs. Humanistic Perspective Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Date of Submission Introduction In the study of human behavior, there are different approaches that can be used. Normally the approaches (theory) can be used to explain why a behavior has happened, how and the consequences of that behavior. Examples of such theories are the social cognitive perspective and the humanistic perspective. This essay focuses on the main concepts of these…

Social comparison theory is the idea that people judge themselves based on others for their own validity. The article “A Diary Study of Self-Compassion, Upward Social Comparisons, and Body Image-Related Outcomes”, the movie Mean Girls and my own personal experiences support the theory about how people compare themselves socially. The article demonstrates that social comparison has happened between young Australian university women aged 18-30 years. The experiment had the women do online surveys…

81) is that we learn about our own abilities and attitudes by comparing ourselves to other people. Humans are constantly learning and evolving, what better way to track your growth and development other than to compare where and what you are currently doing with your peers. This theory is comprised of three critical points. The components of the social comparison theory are as follows, people desire accurate knowledge, if available, they will consult an objective standard; if not they will…

Social Comparison. The inclusion of social comparison within the TIM stems from social comparison theory (Festinger, 1954). According to Festinger (1954), individuals have an inherent drive to evaluate their opinions and abilities. When objective standards are unavailable, individuals seek out others to make comparisons. The outcome of such comparisons is partially influenced by directionality, that is upward or downward. Upward comparisons are proposed to occur when an individual compares him-…

Given that old age is often characterized by negative stereotypes it is common for older adults to have negative perceptions on aging. These pervasive messages suggest that older adults are “frail, ill, old people” which tend to perpetuate these negative attitudes. Henchoz, Cavalli, and Girardin (2008) suggest that comparison mechanisms assist older adults in opposing those views and seeing past those fundamentals of old age. Consequently, basing their views of aging on a more self-perceived…

and our accomplishments to others can be very complex, or it may be very simple. Are we seeking an honest assessment of our self-worth, or are we merely attempting to appease ourselves by showing we are just as good as or better than someone else? According to Festinger’s (1954) social comparison theory, we must first compare ourselves to others in order to appropriately evaluate ourselves, because for many domains and attributes, there is no objective yardstick from which to evaluate…

In the mid of 1950’s, the Behavioral Sciences Division of the Ford Foundation gave Leon Festinger a grant, which was part of the program of the Laboratory for Research in Social Relations. From this grant, he was able to write his first document on the Social Comparison Theory which was published in the Journal of Human Relations in 1954. Leon Festinger at 1954 was the first who used the theory of social comparison and the first proposed the theory of methodology, but the general concept in…

They share the same goal of redemption and equal inevitability of their failure. Dunya was the same objective to Svidrigailov as the superman theory to Raskolnikov. When either was faced with the failure of reaching their goal, they suffered a massive psychological breakdown. Their different perspectives on life drove them to choose different outcomes of their journeys. Svidrigailov would have rather died than spent life in prison. He was very egotistical and didn’t like to admit he was wrong,…

They should just be accepted as is and not immediately subjected to past experiences that may have been “better” in comparison. Children are coached from a young age to compare their feelings and most prized possessions without any regard of the consequences it might have on their future. Joshua Becker, author of Becoming Minimalist: A Helpful Guide to Stop Comparing Yourself to Others, shares, “I’ve lived most of my life comparing myself to others. At first, it was school and sports. But as I…