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Social comparison theory

2008-12-16 06:34:16

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Social comparison is a theory initially proposed by social psychologist Leon

Festinger in 1954. This theory explains how individuals evaluate their own

opinions and desires by comparing themselves to others.

Basic Framework

The Social comparison theory (Festinger, 1954) is the idea that there is a

drive within individuals to look to outside images in order to evaluate their

own opinions and abilities. These images may be a reference to physical reality

or in comparison to other people. People look to the images portrayed by others

to be obtainable and realistic, and subsequently, make comparisons among

themselves, others and the idealized images.

In his initial theory, Festinger hypothesized several things. First, he stated

that humans have a drive to evaluate themselves by examining their opinions and

abilities in comparison to others. To this, he added that the tendency to

compare oneself with some other specific person decreases as the difference

between his opinion or ability and one s own become more divergent. He also

hypothesized that there is an upward drive towards achieving greater abilities,

but that there are non-social restraints which make it nearly impossible to

change them, and that this is largely absent in opinions (Festinger, 1954).

He continued with the idea that to cease comparison between one s self and

others causes hostility and deprecation of opinions. His hypotheses also stated

that a shift in the importance of a comparison group will increase pressure

towards uniformity with that group. However, if the person, image or comparison

group is too divergent from the evaluator, the tendency to narrow the range of

comparability becomes stronger (Festinger, 1954). To this he added that people

who are similar to an individual are especially good in generating accurate

evaluations of abilities and opinions (Suls, Martin, & Wheeler, 2002). Lastly,

he hypothesized that the distance from the mode of the comparison group will

affect the tendencies of those comparing; that those who are closer will have

stronger tendencies to change than those who are further away (Festinger,

1954).

Further Development

Since its introduction to communications and social psychology, research has

shown that social comparisons are more complex than initially thought, and that

people play a more active role in comparisons (Suls, Martin & Wheeler 2002). A

number of revisions, including new domains for comparison and motives, have

also been made since 1954. Motives that are relevant to comparison include

self-enhancement, perceptions of relative standing, maintenance of a positive

self-evaluation, closure, components of attributes and the avoidance of closure

(Kruglanski & Mayseless, 1990; Suls, Martin, & Wheeler, 2002).

Several models have been introduced to social comparison, including the Proxy

Model and the Triadic Model. The Proxy model anticipates the success of

something that is unfamiliar. The model proposes that if a person is successful

or familiar to a similar task, then they would also be successful at a new

task. The Triadic Model proposes that people with similar attributes and

opinions will be relevant to each other and therefore influential to each other

(Suls, Martin, & Wheeler, 2002).

Two main types of comparisons exist in social comparison: upward and downward.

Upward social comparison occurs when individuals compare themselves to others

who are deemed socially better than us in some way. People intentionally

compare themselves with others so that they can make their self views more

positive. In this type of comparison, people want to believe themselves to be

one of the elite, and make comparisons showing the similarities in themselves

and the comparison group. (Suls, Martin & Wheeler 2002).

Downward social comparison acts in the opposite direction. Downward social

comparison is a defensive tendency to evaluate oneself with a comparison group

whose troubles are more serious than one's own. This tends to occur when

threatened people look to others who are less fortunate than themselves.

Downward comparison theory emphasizes the positive effects of comparisons,

which people tend to make then when they feel happy rather than unhappy. For

example, a breast cancer patient may have had a lumpectomy, but sees themselves

as better off than another patient who lost their breast (Suls, Martin &

Wheeler 2002).

While there have been changes in Festinger s original concept, many fundamental

aspects remain, including the similarity in the comparison groups, the tendency

towards social comparison and the general process that is social comparison

(Kruglanski, & Mayseless, 1990).

Developmental History

In the 1950 s, Festinger was given as grant from the Behavioral Sciences

Division of the Ford Foundation. This grant was part of the research program of

the Laboratory for Research in Social Relations, which developed the Social

Comparison Theory (Festinger, 1954). The development of social comparison

hinged on several socio-psychological processes, and in order to create this

theory, Festinger used research from colleagues that focused on social

communication, group dynamics, the autokinetic effect, compliant behavior,

social groups and level of aspiration (Festinger, 1954; Kruglanski & Mayseless,

1990). In his article, he sourced various experiments with children and adults,

however, much of his theory was based on his own research (Festinger, 1954).

When understanding the basis of social comparison, it is imperative to

understand that no one thought process created the theory, but rather, a

compellation of experiments, historical evidence and philosophical thought.

While Festinger was the first social psychologist to coin the term Social

Comparison , the general concept can not be claimed exclusively by him (Suls &

Wheeler, 2000). In fact, this theory s origins can be dated back to Aristotle

and Plato. Plato spoke of comparisons of self-understanding and absolute

standards. Aristotle was concerned with comparisons between people. Later,

philosophers such as Kant, Marx and Rousseau spoke on moral reasoning and

social inequality. (Suls, Martin, & Wheeler, 2002).