Leon Festinger's Social Comparison Theory - The Psychology ...

Festinger's social comparison theory proposed that people who compare themselves with those who are similar to them typically produce accurate appraisals of ... SkiptocontentLeonFestingerdevelopedtheSocialComparisonTheoryandpublishedhisfirstjournalonthetheoryintheJournalofHumanRelationsin1954.HypothesesoftheSocialComparisonTheoryAccordingtothesocialcomparisontheory,wehavethedrivetoassessouropinionsandabilities.Whenwecan’tevaluateouropinionsandabilities,wetendtocompareourselveswithothers.Forexample,someoneinawritingclasswantstoknowhowgoodawriterheis.Hemaycomparehiswritingtoclassmateswhogetahighergradeandalsotoclassmateswhogetalowergrade.Basedonthesecomparisons,heestablishesabenchmarkandgetsanideaofthelevelofhiswritingskills.Festinger’ssocialcomparisontheoryproposedthatpeoplewhocomparethemselveswiththosewhoaresimilartothemtypicallyproduceaccurateappraisalsoftheircapabilitiesandbeliefs.Forexample,comparingthewritingabilityoftwopeopleinthesameagegroupismoresensiblethancomparingthewritingabilityofanadulttoachild.Inaddition,theinclinationtoequateoneselfwithotherpeoplediminishesasthedifferencebetweentheirbeliefsandcapabilitiesbecomemoresignificant.Festingerfurthersuggestedthatcomparingoneselfwithotherscanresultinweightsofuniformity.Thereisaninclinationtolessenthedifferencesbetweentheevaluatorandcomparisongroupbypersuadingothers,orbyalteringtheirpersonalbeliefstoachieveuniformity.reportthisadUpwardandDownwardComparisonsAccordingtothesocialcomparisontheory,therearetwotypesofcomparison:UpwardcomparisonDownwardcomparisonAnupwardcomparisonoccurswhensomeonecompareshimselfwithotherswhoaremorecapablethanhim.Adownwardcomparisonoccurswhensomeonecompareshimselfwithotherswhoarelesscapablethanhim.Ahighlymotivatedpersontendstoengageinupwardcomparisons,andusuallyassumeshimselfasbetterorequaltothe“bestperson”.Ontheotherhand,whensomeoneisunhappyorisunmotivated,heusuallyengagesindownwardcomparisonsinordertofeelbetterabouthimself.Studieshaveshownthatifgivenachance,peopleusuallychoosetomakeupwardcomparisonsinsteadofdownwardones.TwoTypesofDownwardComparisonInajournalarticlepublishedin1981,ThomasWillsfurtherdivideddownwardcomparisonintotwosubtypes:passivedownwardcomparisonactivedownwardcomparisonPassivedownwardcomparisonoccurswhensomeonecompareshimselftosomeonewhoislesscapableinordertomakehimselffeelbetter.Forexample,astudentwhogetsCinMathmaycomparehimselftosomeonewhogetsaD.Afterthat,hemayconvincehimselfthatgettingaCisnotthatbad.Activedownwardcomparisonoccurswhensomeonecompareshimselftoothersbydemeaningorcausingharmtothem.Byderogatingthetargetsorcausingharmtothem,thispersongeneratesasituationinwhichthetargetsareworseoffthanhim,thereforegivinghimthechancetomakeadownwardcomparison.Forexample,StudentAwhoisnotgoodinMathmaystealStudentB’sMathnotes,causingStudentBnotbeabletostudyfortheMathexam.StudentAgetsaContheMathexam,whileStudentBgetsanD.ThenStudentAfeelsthathe’sbetterinMaththanStudentB.Self-evaluationandself-enhancementMotivationplaysaroleinthesocialcomparisontheoryandismanifestedbyself-evaluationandself-enhancement.Self-evaluationoccurswhensomeonelooksforpositivetraitsinhimselfbasedonthebestpersonhecompareshimselfwith.Self-enhancement,ontheotherhand,occurswhensomeonequestionswhichaspectsofhimselfneedtobeimprovedinordertoreachthelevelofgoodnessofthepersonheiscomparinghimselfto.CommentsRelatedposts:TheSocialPsychologyPerspectivesOnHelpingOthersWhatistheSocialProofTheory?TheSocialPsychologyAspectofAttitudeWhatisSocialRelationship?WhatisSocialLearningTheory?Categories:SocialPsychology6ResponsesComments6Pingbacks0GoodreadingReplyThanks!A.ReplyCanyoutellmewhowrotethisarticlesoIcanproperlyciteitReplyHi,Pleaserefertothiswebsite:http://www.bibme.org/citation-guide/apa/websiteHopethishelps,AReplyHi,Iwashopingtofindoutwhenthisarticlewaswritten?ReplyThearticlesanddiagramsonthiswebsitearewritten/createdbyourteamofwriters.Ifyouusethecontentonthiswebsite,youMUSTprovideappropriatecredit.Pleaseseehereonhowtocitethecontentonthiswebsite.ReplyLeaveaReplyCancelreplyYouremailaddresswillnotbepublished.Requiredfieldsaremarked*Comment*Name*Email*Website PostcommentΔThissiteusesAkismettoreducespam.Learnhowyourcommentdataisprocessed.PrevPostTheoriesofEmotioninPsychologyNextPostWhatistheOptimalArousalTheoryofMotivation?Getintouch: Search Search Closexx